Former GOP presidential hopeful and House Speaker Newt Gingrich called House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) “the smartest strategic thinker in Republican elected office today.”
“I mean, you look at what he has mastered in the budget, you look at — whether you like or dislike the details, this is a guy who has thought deeply about the reshaping of the American government to make it affordable at a level that`s really pretty courageous,” Gingrich said on MSNBC last night.
“And he’s done it in a blue-collar district with a large UAW membership, a lot of auto plants, and he’s gotten reelected by big margins going home and telling people who he is and what he honestly believes.”
Gingrich said he believes only Mitt and Ann Romney, as well as VP vetter Beth Myers, are making the decision about the presumptive Republican nominee’s running mate.
“I mean, Rob Portman is very, very smart. Marco Rubio was a great speaker of the house in Florida. I’ve known Marco for years. He has a tremendous future, in my judgment. Governor McDonnell’s a great governor of Virginia, and Virginia’s going to be — could well be the — Virginia could be for this election what Ohio was in 2004,” he said.
About New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), Gingrich quipped, “As a guy who’s always had a weight problem, I’ve always hoped Christie would become a national figure so I could stand in his shadow.”
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