Romney Picks his VP: Paul Ryan

Let's see . . 1, 2 . . 5, 6, . . 18, 19 . . there. There are 19 Paul Ryan stories above the fold on Drudge. My personal favorite is that the announcement will be made aboard the USS Wisconsin.
The 'Mitt's plane' story has an update that states 'NBC is confirming . . '

Ron Paul?

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has picked Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan to be his running mate, according to a Republican with knowledge of the development. They will appear together Saturday in Norfolk, Va., at the start of a four-state bus tour to introduce the newly minted GOP ticket to the nation.

The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because this person was not authorized to disclose the decision.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ROMNEY_RUNNING_MATE?SITE=AP&SE...

If this is true, Romney is toast. The Democrats will have a field day with Ryan's budget-cutting practices. And the decision is based on appeasing conservatives? The right-of-center vote was already in Romney's camp, but there's no way he can win without centrist support.

Mitt has picked Paul Ryan. More.....

wsj.com
Romney Picks Ryan as Running Mate
By SARA MURRAY, COLLEEN MCCAIN NELSON and PATRICK O'CONNOR

Mitt Romney picked Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate, a decision that could spark enthusiasm for the Republican ticket among conservatives and all but ensures the election will turn to deep philosophical divisions between the two parties over spending, taxes and entitlements.

In Mr. Ryan, 42 years old, the Romney campaign gets a conservative who has spent recent years at the center of national debates about the size and scope of the federal government. With his proposals to revamp entitlement programs for future retirees and the poor, he has become a hero to conservatives and a target for liberals.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000087239639044340400457758211252114159...

Not surprisingly Ryan has not proposed to reign in the lavish spending on congressional pay and benefits for the very people who have engineered the current state of affairs.

Personally, I think Ryan was about the best pick of all. He has experience in DC and has shown that he is one of the few people down there who understands money and budgets, and has some real good ideas.

Whether or not this team can win in Nov, and any of Ryan's plans can see the light of a new dawn or not, remains to be seen.

But it is a great start!

WC

I will double-down on Mike Lange's assessment...I am depressed...this pick may invigorate the base, none of whom would have voted for Obama/Biden....but it will NOT decimate the center.

I like Paul Ryan ,but I'm with Mike Lange.....Romney is preaching to the choir by picking Ryan. Mitt's choice of Ryan will just reinforce the lefts charge that Romney plans to appease the rich and balance the books on the backs of the middle class.

An aspect I've not heard adderssed yet. I know little about Ryan, but most of what I've read places him strongly in the fiscal conservative camp, but there is little out there (so far) about his stance social issues. Did Romney mostly take the social hot button issues off the table?

Ryan is a great pick . I was leaning 3rd party but Ryan is a strong conservative and will ( newt like ) make the media look like crap .
Only downside if Romney loses is Ryan out of the House ? I think he was up for re-election

I have stated here before that I miss Jack Kemp. Paul Ryan first went to Washington to work for Jack Kemp. Both Jack Kemp and Paul Ryan understand economics. Jack Kemp is gone and it's up to Paul Ryan to carry the torch of fiscal responsibility. The #1 issue in our country is the economy. Ryan is honest. He will make an effective team member as we begin to back away from the abyss that the Obama administration has worsened.

There are too many people here on AMG who will ridicule or reject everything that Romney does--even if he had selected Ron Paul, it wouldn't have been acceptable to them. To them, romney will be forever "mittens", and even if he does the right thing(s), they won't accept it because "he doesn't really mean it".
I think Ryan's a good choice, myself. And let's face it--the Left and the media (but I repeat myself) would do their level best to destroy anyone--Mother Teresa would be portrayed as an axe murderer and someone who wants to starve old people, so our job will be to get people to use their heads.

Good grief! Romney just quit the race and introduced Paul Ryan as "The next President of the United States".

It may have been a stumble, but the Democrats will play that tape continuously til November.

Republicans might as well have picked Palin again. Why does this party keep picking terrible running mates? They just dont get it.

Paul Ryan is an an excellent choice. He is smart, articulate, telegenic, and has political courage. He's willing to tackle the really tough budget issues like some of the third rail Great Society programs like Medicare which needs serious reform if its going to continue to be solvent for even the medium-term. He's also willing to confront out of control discretionary welfare programs for both the "poor" and the corporations (crony capitalism).

His biggest liability is he does not bring his intelligence and courage to bear on the "Defense Budget", which is really the "Empire Budget" of hundreds of overseas bases for continuing our stupid and destructive wars in the Middle East. He never asks why we still need bases in Germany and Japan 67 years after WW II or in Korea and hundreds of other far-flung places which do nothing to enhance US security interests. In this, he fits well with Romney's blind spots.

He also voted for the bank bailouts in 2008, which may please the GOP corporate money crowd but is a warning sign for real fiscal conservatives. He of course, like Romney and the GOP academic community, still sings the praises of "free trade" though there is less evidence for its beneficence to nations who practice it in the historical record than the Resurrection.

As far as the comment: "I like Paul Ryan ,but I'm with Mike Lange.....Romney is preaching to the choir by picking Ryan. Mitt's choice of Ryan will just reinforce the left's charge that Romney plans to appease the rich and balance the books on the backs of the middle class", the Obama camp and the GOP have both pretty much decided to make a deeper appeal to their bases. Obama long ago disgarded the interests of white, middle-class voters (except government employee union members) in order to appeal to ethnic, racial and sexual (gays and feminists)minorities. See Obama's "administrative Amnesty" campaign of voiding the law against illegals.

Romney should now try to appeal more to the part of the white middle class who is skeptical of him, those ex-Reagan Democrats, especially blue-collar men in the Midwest, where the election will probably be decided. He'll need to do so to off-set the hugh margin of Obama-supporting white, single, "educated" women. So far he hasn't tried very hard. If he doesn't , he can't win. Demography is Destiny and the Dems know it; I don't know if the GOP realizes that yet.

Ryan knows the fiscal numbers, but does he know the political demographics and does he have the courage to face the un-P.C. facts and act accordingly? John McCain, the GOP's worst Presidential candidate of all time, refused to do so. Will this more attractive team? We'll see.

Palin was the only reason McCain got as many votes as he did--she energized the base.

But Romney could have selected the ArchAngel Michael and people would say "We're doomed! He chose a religious extremist!"

Ryan just said, "We won't duck the tough issues. We will lead."

Paul Ryan, Voted YES on making the PATRIOT Act permanent. (Dec 2005)

Re: " there's no way he can win without centrist support."

Isn't that what you said about Reagan, too?

He must have been a fluke....
...Two flukes in a row....
It happens every now and then.

Ryan just said, "We won't duck the tough issues. We will lead."

but, you will have to elect us before we tell you what our plans are.

I have yet to hear any of Romneys plans. Just rhetoric, just telling people what they want to hear.

No Thanks, I am still with Gary Johnson. Johnson is the only one who has laid out a plan.

It's time to circle the wagons and not the firing squad. You folks in the Mike Lange camp need to bottle up the sour grapes and find a reason to like Paul Ryan. I don't see Willard changing his mind, at this point.

My first reaction was 'way too white'. As I thought about that, it dawned on me that O+B haven't done much for any of the entrenched, legal minorities and swinging those blocks, with the help of the Jindells, Rubios and Wests of the world may not be as hard as it looked. Sensible voters can be persuaded and, if there are enough of them, some color only voters might follow the lead.

As I have said before, I'm supressing my enthusiasm until after the conventions. I listened to some disturbing speculation about them, recently. Be prepared for a well behaved, appreciative crowd in Charlotte and a less refined turnout in Tampa.

Excellent Pick
1) They are already bashing Romney for endorsing Ryan's plan. Who better to defend it than the guy who wrote it.
2) Ryan speaks conservative ideals and values from the heart. He doesn't need a teleprompter of a speech writer. He is almost as good at it as Rubio.
3) He knows how congress works and how to work it. A great asset in getting legislation passed.
4) He is not intimidated by the press, establishment or demagogic liberals

hope link works
http://youtu.be/DJIC7kEq6kw

It does, RR. It's a good piece. Personally, I like the 'charts and graphs' or Ross Perot approach. Unfortunately, it's a 3 minute walk into the problem and only a 1 minute walk out. At the very least, it should have included a soluttion projection to offset the problem projection.
________________________________________________________________________

Which reminds me. RR. Romney-Ryan. Be prepared for Richie Rich and Rolls Royce abuse.

For months, I have been reading on this board that the only thing that matters in November is the budget and the deficit. Now, Romney has selected Mr. Deficit Buster as his running mate, and all of a sudden it's a disaster. No, it's not. Either we get the problem under control NOW, or we end up, as Mark Steyn said today, not as Greece but as Argentina. At least Ryan has a budget to point to, and all he has to do is hold up a blank sheet to represent the opposition. The fact that Obama is basically even in polls of likely voters where the Democrats don't have a nine-point margin in the sample is terrible for an incumbent.

Thank you, MD, for the cogent points and reasoned analysis.

Forward to NOVEMBER, folks!!!!

I heard somebody (Coulter?) describe Mitt as a "green eye shades" type of president, unlike Reagan who was a big picture guy.

Well, he's picked a bona fide green eye shades guy in Ryan.

It's all in the packaging, so if they can sell it they can win.

They better understand that "facts tell, stories sell" to do that.

There were others with more compelling personal stories, chiefly Rubio.

If they can succeed at Story Time, that jug eared jackass will be swept.

Paul Ryan is more than green eye shades. His biggest applause line had to do with America being the only country to be founded on an idea: that our rights come from nature and from God, not from government.

I have good news for my favorite young people, many of whom despise politics. VP candidate Paul Ryan of Wisconsin is your best friend in government. Paul Ryan wants you to be in control of your own destinies, as evidenced by the policies he champions. In contrast, Obama and candidates like Pingree and King want you to be perpetually dependent on them to get the goodies they think you should have. And the senior lobby, though not senior citizens themselves, just want to drain you of your income, present and future.

The good news is Mitt Romney had the guts to choose Paul Ryan to be his running mate, a move that says Romney gets it. Young people, take notice.

Overall, a pretty good pick! Pawlenty or Portman would have been so damn boring. Rubio was my other choice, but inexperience and possible natural born citizen issues might have been a problem.

I agree with Marlin 94, Pawlenty or Portman would have been much worse picks. I've said my piece about Romney's pick, and I agree that Ryan takes the economy head on. My concern is that too many Americans simply do not want to hear the truth. It is uncomfortable. Christ, it is downright frightening. But I just wish that for once, I could vote for a major candidate who I was really enthusiastic about voting/working for. I am sick and tired of holding my nose and voting for the lesser of two evils. But I will stay quiet through Election Day. I will vote for Romney, and I will challenge those on the other side of the political aisle to put thought and substance into their debates.

Congratulations to Paul Ryan. Go get 'em....