Of course the spin this morning is that the Paul Ryan pick shows Romney is committed to serious fiscal reform and budgetary sanity. That spin is correct, but overlooks something just as important. Paul Ryan’s selection also appeals to perhaps the second most important constituency after fiscal hawks – Catholics in swing states.
Paul Ryan will be only the second Catholic ever to appear on the Republican Presidential ticket, and the first since William Miller almost a half century ago. Catholics in Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Florida and Iowa will decide this election, rightfully so given Obama’s attack on Catholic religious freedom.
Ryan’s pick broadly energizes all parts of the Republican Party in ways few could – not Bob McDonnell, not Chris Christie, not Condoleezza Rice. Ryan is strongly pro-life. He has fought against Obama’s infringement of religious liberty. He is willing to fight for Conservative principles, not rush to the comfortable center. He represents Tea Party values. He is the perfect pick.
Catholic voters will ultimately decide this election in those key swing states. Not only has Ryan championed the Church’s position on Obamacare, he can also speak to those Catholics still stuck in the leftist orthodoxy of the past that think the government is the best conduit for Christian charity. Democrats confident they can attack Ryan using the old playbook may wish Romney had chosen someone else before long.
So, instead of picking an old boring white man, Mitt picks
a young boring white man. The American voter will be so enthused now.
If you think Paul Ryan is boring, you don’t know anything about Paul Ryan. Keep thinking it at your own perils.
Mitt needed a game changer. The general would have been a game changer. The American public will look at this and
go Meh. It’s a great choice if you’re looking for intellectual and ideological purity. You can comfort yourself with that through four more years of Chicago Jesus. Remember, the first rule of elections (or anything for that matter) is to WIN. Chicago Jesus and his smear
merchants know that.
“The general would have been a game changer”
this guy? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOruN55imxc
I was thinking more of General David Howell Petraeus. But,
your pick would be good too and better than Ryan.
Three months of him throwing Gramma off a cliff and they’ll be lucky to get a single vote.
Romney is finished. He will go into the convention behind by double digits. This will help mitt with independents but he already had that vote. It will NOT help Mitt with conservatives.
The definition of Conservative has changed since Clinton. The old guard that controls the GOP has NOT figured that out. They will have lots of spare time Starting 87 days from now.
That might not be so bad. Ignore the scare mongers, America will not disappear if Berry gets re-elected. The time period starting after November 06, 2012 can be used by conservatives to take back the GOP.
Republicans don’t care about the idea of America. They just want to be first at the feeding chute for tax dollars. The patriarchs of the GOP didn’t see Solyndra as graft, corruption and a moral failure but as the wrong guys getting all those millions. That is why the investigation is being slow walked.
The Culture of corruption is alive and well in Washington D.C. The R&R boys do not threaten that culture. That is why they are the nominees and why they will lose.
Nobody really cares if Friedman or Keynes was correct. Most people understand on a gut level that the only law of economics is buy low sell high. Everything else is theory. Both of those gentlemen were wrong.
Charlie don’t surf.
“Ignore the scare mongers, America will not disappear if Berry gets re-elected.”
Wrong.
You obviously have not been paying attention. America HAS disappeared during Obama’s watch. Throwing your vote away because you didn’t get the perfect candidate is juvenile. Paul Ryan is an excellent choice because virtually everything else you posted is demonstrably false.
So, if I am white I have nothng that anybody should be interested in? Does only pigment make a person worthy to be considered? Pray tell.
Why are people getting away with “Boring White Guy”meme?I’m offended that’s racist!
NO, that’s BIGOTED. Racist means you think you are superior because of race. Hating someone because of race is bigotry. It is also stupid and a waste of time.
I’m cool with Ryan. I no longer feel I will hold my nose and vote for the VP as I did with Palin and whats-his-name. This is a fair blend. Now I’d like to see Romney pick Bolton for Sec. of State and Lt. Col. Allen West for Sec. of Defense. Put Gingrich in a position to volly with the msm.
This pick drives the last nail in Mitt’s coffin. He will not be picking any cabinet members. POTUS does that.
I am certainly not as qualified to advise political campaigns as others evidently are, but I believe Ryan will help the ticket significantly. If Romney would simply take Rush’s advice, and now Dr. Krauthammer’s as well, and attack Pol Pot on the Potomac ideologically, as many of us have been screaming for months, he would win running away. The Communist Kenyan was never vetted in 2008…..he must be this time. But, what do I know? I’m just a retired, broken down, old paratrooper….I’m certainly not a ‘politician’; I love America and I’m an honest person.
I like Ryan for his fiscal policies and views on the economy, but I am hearing a lot of negatives from young professional women (who supported both Bush and McCain) about Ryan’s very strong pro-life positions. The left has already swung into action on these points and will try to make the election about social issues, which will KILL the Republicans with independents and young voters. It’s important that Republicans make it clear that whatever their personal views about abortion, they do NOT intend to make abortion illegal – restrict it in the late term, sure, require parent notification, sure, but going after early term abortion generally will be a KILLER with votes they could otherwise win, and won’t get them ANY votes they wouldn’t otherwise get.
Big, big risk.
One problem with your logic: America is now majority pro life. The young unmarried women you cite as turned off are already turned on by Obama, politically, at least. They weren’t going GOP anyhow. Pro-life has become a winning issue as public opinion has shifted over the last 20 years.
There’s pro life and there’s pro life: that is, I think it’s fair to say a majority supports more restrictions on abortion than we have now, and that a majority personally believe abortion is wrong. What I don’t believe is that either position translates into a ‘hard line’ pro life position that almost all abortions should be illegal. The left tries to conflate them, and some strong pro life advocates do take that view, which makes it easy. We lose more than we win by not making it clearer that abortion is primarily a matter of conscience, not legal restriction, in the earlier stages of pregnancy. Most people don’t want leftist social views forced on them, but they don’t want very conservative social views forced on them either. It’s as much a liberty issue as anything else.
An abortion kills a human child no matter what the circumstances are. Restrictions are not proposed to annoy the mother, they are there to save an innocent human life.
Choosing Ryan has implications far beyond the Catholic vote. Having selected him makes it impossible for Obama to escape a debate on the so-called “third rails” of our politics. Romney has been accused of “playing it safe”, but he has masterfully shifted that burden on Obama’s shoulders, who will now try to escape the issue of our fiscal prospects in addition to our damaged economy in the present! The public has already started to be disgusted by the nasty diversions of the Obama campaign, while the worst of it is yet to come.
Romney and Ryan captured the truth as their weapon, which so few pols have the courage to do. What is left for Obama & consort to do in this situation? Flail, ridicule and ultimately discredit themselves by having been cornered and trapped on the defensive!
I do not see Obama being defeated by Romney as much as I see Obama defeating himself!
I live in California, but I will vote for Romney anyway. Many patriotic Californians may well do the same and send a message, even if we are still in the minority, which is not garanteed in any case!