What if Romney chooses Ryan as a running mate?

[Balog]

In assessing how Ryan will affect the Romney campaign, just remember that he's been up for re-election every two years for the last fourteen years. He's had to explain all of his positions--including those outlined in his plan--to the voters in his district. I lived in his district, and it's not a safe Republican seat by any means. He's able to communicate with those voters, and I'm sure he'll do fine with voters nationwide.

Vice presidential candidates don't usually make or break a campaign (Sara Palin may have been one exception to that rule), but Ryan's plan itself can make or break the Romney plan. By selecting Ryan, Romney has signed on to the plan, and has to explain it well enough to counter the distorted ads the Obama campaign will throw at it.

This all makes the selection of Ryan a really bold move on Romney's part. It should make for an interesting 84 days.

Romney has disavowed the details of Ryan's plan, from what I've heard. Oops, I see it was covered later.

Romney is useless and I loathe him on any number of levels. But as best I can tell he is an utterly amoral mercenary who'll whore himself out to whoever pays him. He was a "devout Mormon" who supported the gay agenda and abortion when it was politically expedient for example. However, I'm not entirely sure an amoral mercenary whore is a bad role for a poli-critter to play. All we have to do is convince him that it's Tea Party / libertarian types who pay his bills and he'll do whatever it takes to make that agenda happen. Not saying I believe that, just saying it seems like a distinct possibility to me at this point.

[brimic]

But as best I can tell he is an utterly amoral mercenary who'll whore himself out to whoever pays him. He was a "devout Mormon" who supported the gay agenda and abortion when it was politically expedient for example. However, I'm not entirely sure an amoral mercenary whore is a bad role for a poli-critter to play

He's nothing more than the (R) version of Bill Clinton. Algore was to the left what Ryan is to the right. Ryan's budgetary plans are being triangulated right out of existance as we speak.

[Blakenzy]

All we have to do is convince him that it's Tea Party / libertarian types who pay his bills and he'll do whatever it takes to make that agenda happen.

I'm sorry but the Tea Party/libertarian types are a little late to the party. Wall Street has already picked up Mitt's tab.

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/contriball.php?cycle=2012

[Hutch]

<scribbles note to self>needs me some moar beans, bullets, and band-aids  <shuffles off to admire pictures of grand kids>

[geronimotwo]

I'm sorry but the Tea Party/libertarian types are a little late to the party. Wall Street has already picked up Mitt's tab.

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/contriball.php?cycle=2012

funny, i didn't see my name under ron paul.  were they listing those alphabetically?

[De Selby]

Ryan is the new Palin - they basically handed away what was otherwise a solid chance at the election.

Mark my words, his policy and rhetoric will hand Obama a sure victory in November. 

[Ron]

Ryan is the new Palin - they basically handed away what was otherwise a solid chance at the election.

Mark my words, his policy and rhetoric will hand Obama a sure victory in November. 

Choosing Ryan has made me pause and consider voting for Romney.

I'm still not convinced that a Romney victory, even with Ryan as VP will be any better for liberty than a GWB presidency, maybe marginally better than an Obama presidency at best.

The sell your soul lesser of two evils formulation just doesn't move me any longer.

[De Selby]

Choosing Ryan has made me pause and consider voting for Romney.

I'm still not convinced that a Romney victory, even with Ryan as VP will be any better for liberty than a GWB presidency, maybe marginally better than an Obama presidency at best.

The sell your soul lesser of two evils formulation just doesn't move me any longer.

Lots of people loved Palin too - just not as many as didn't. 

[roo_ster]

Lots of people loved Palin too - just not as many as didn't. 

McCain/Palin would have done worse without Palin on the ticket. McCain fatally wounded his campaign with his "suspend campaign and go to Washington for financial bailout" baloney and never recovered.



 

[De Selby]

McCain/Palin would have done worse without Palin on the ticket. McCain fatally wounded his campaign with his "suspend campaign and go to Washington for financial bailout" baloney and never recovered.



 

The videos of exorcisms, interviews that served as SNL comedy transcripts (without editing), and crying foul when asked ambush questions like "what do you read?" did not help the campaign.

[Ron]

The videos of exorcisms, interviews that served as SNL comedy transcripts (without editing), and crying foul when asked ambush questions like "what do you read?" did not help the campaign.

Joe Biden

If the media wanted to take down 08 Obama all they had to do was continually tell the truth about ol' Joe.

All they would have had to do was tell the truth about Obama and he wouldn't have won.

Presidential elections have become a gypsy game, heads they win tails we lose.

Once the belief in truth and natural rights were abandoned the state began to fill the void. Welcome to the machine.

[Hutch]

DS, please be honest with yourself.  If Palin had been as articulate and erudite as Condi Rice, you would have found some other fault with her.  Can't you just disagree with the message without ridiculing the messenger? 

Ryan is bright, and well spoken, and does not flinch from unpleasant realities.  I'm sure you take issue with his policy, but can you accept that The path we are on fiscally is unsustainable?  If we adopt absolutely confiscatory tax rates to try actually, you know, PAY for this .gov, it will crater the economy.  If we continue to borrow to pay for .gov, it will destroy the value of the currency and the legitimacy of .gov to the point of anarchy and societal collapse.  If we make hard choices, and shrink, not slow the growth, actually SHRINK, the scope, reach, and largesse of .gov, we may be able to save the Republic in a form that's worth defending.

[De Selby]

DS, please be honest with yourself.  If Palin had been as articulate and erudite as Condi Rice, you would have found some other fault with her.  Can't you just disagree with the message without ridiculing the messenger?

This is silly - have a look at my posts and see what I've said about Obama here.  Check out what I've said about Palin's beliefs in comparison.  This has nothing to do with disagreeing with Palin's message.

Campaign skills are not the same as policy skills - one gets you elected, the other does not.  I'm commenting here on how these people will appear during the campaign.

[Perd Hapley]

Ryan is the new Palin - they basically handed away what was otherwise a solid chance at the election.

Mark my words, his policy and rhetoric will hand Obama a sure victory in November. 

   No.

So much fail in one post. (We need an exhausted from laughing smiley.)

[Monkeyleg]

This is silly - have a look at my posts and see what I've said about Obama here.

Probably something along the lines of Obama has a ways to go to become a good socialist.

Paul Ryan has been considered to be one of the rising stars in the Republican party, a serious congressman with a real budget plan. If the American people don't want to really listen and understand what he has to say, then we're pretty much screwed.

But why do you feel the need to get involved in American political discussions here? Aren't you living under a monarchy, or ruled by kangaroos or something?

[RoadKingLarry]

Why I'll vote for Romney.

I believe our country is headed for an absolutely inevitable economic and very likely societal collapse that will make the "Great Depression" look like Sunday picnic. It doesn't matter which party has the wheel, we're gonna drive off the cliff. The only thing to be determined is when and how deep a hole we will end up in.

I believe with another term for Obama we will see the crash in less than 2 years. Romney might give us 3-4 years, maybe.

I'm not quite ready, I'll vote for the chance of delaying the collapse just to give me the extra time.

[MicroBalrog]

Lots of people loved Palin too - just not as many as didn't. 

McCain received a bounce (I believe two weeks long) after Palin was nominated.

There's no real proof that it's Palin that caused the later decline - I believe it was McCain rushing in across the country to vote for the bailouts, but certainly there's no proof of either.

[roo_ster]

Once again The Onion scoops Politico and ABCNBCCBSCNN:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/admit-it-i-scare-the-everloving-*expletive deleted*it-out-of-you-do,29160/

I’m young, I’m handsome, I’m smart, and I’m articulate. And that scares the ever-loving *expletive deleted*it out of you. You can pretend like you have this thing in the bag, but you know good goddamn well that this race just got real interesting, real fast.

Read it all.

[Balog]

Ryan is intelligent, calm, reasonable, articulate, young, handsome, a quality speaker, skilled at retail politics (how many times has he got elected as a conservative in WI?), has a mother on Medicare in FLA which will no doubt help him sway the infamous panickey old folks who'd rather destroy the country than see their bennies cut, energizes the (many many many conservatives who doubt Romney won't be a Bush repeat), appeals to the "independents" everyone is so enamored of, and makes WI a swing state.

He is of course open to the silly "pushing grandma off a cliff" rhetoric from the Obama camp. But really, Obama and his lapdogs in the the propaganda wing of the DNC media will level such chargbes against anyone who's to the right of John McCain, so that's kind of a moot point.

It's hard to see how he's a bad choice.

[Jamie B]

I am curious how Ryan will respond to critics regarding his Bush era spending spree support.

I fear that this will hurt him.

[Blakenzy]

He's probably counting on the very short memory of the Average American Voter.

[De Selby]

Probably something along the lines of Obama has a ways to go to become a good socialist.

Paul Ryan has been considered to be one of the rising stars in the Republican party, a serious congressman with a real budget plan. If the American people don't want to really listen and understand what he has to say, then we're pretty much screwed.

But why do you feel the need to get involved in American political discussions here? Aren't you living under a monarchy, or ruled by kangaroos or something?

Palin was a star too, enormously popular in Alaska.  National campaigns are a different story.

But yeah, I'm an American - where I live the shooters party has seats in the most populous state and is slowly opening up land to public hunting. 

I do think that simply copying the government services from this kangaroo kingdom would be a vast improvement on what the US has now - but I guess low unemployment, good working conditions, cost effective and quality medical care, secure retirements, and unemployment insurance for everyone aren't really what my countrymen in the US want. 

No, we want freedom!       As if being able to get a job and not worry about starving if you lose it are the opposite.

[De Selby]

McCain received a bounce (I believe two weeks long) after Palin was nominated.

There's no real proof that it's Palin that caused the later decline - I believe it was McCain rushing in across the country to vote for the bailouts, but certainly there's no proof of either.

Watch the interviews from Palin again - try to find a QA that you think didn't hurt the McCain camp.  Then there were the "Beverly hillbillies spending spree" comments by staffers...too many to list.

[MicroBalrog]

But yeah, I'm an American - where I live the shooters party has seats in the most populous state and is slowly opening up land to public hunting. 

...what possible relevance does this have ?

[De Selby]

...what possible relevance does this have ?

I was pointing out that for all the "monarchy" talk, people actually do get to exercise freedoms here.