Paul Ryan is Romney's running mate

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**whembly**

ShumaGorath wrote:
whembly wrote:
ShumaGorath wrote:This will energize both parties, it's certainly conservative credit for Romney since Ryan is a much less tainted star and scores well with hardcores. The dudes reviled by everyone with common sense though so this isn't going to get more moderates in Romneys corners.

The thing is... there's no VP pick that the Dems won't demonize...

So... what should've he done?

I don't think this was a wrong move. Romneys adoption of a middle road candidate might have grabbed him a portion of the undecideds, but what he needs right now is to not be the "last resort" candidate for the republican party. When the majority of republican voters will vote for him because they "have to" rather than because he inspires the cause it can cause a low turnout. He's probably hedged the bet that increasing loyalist turnout via a hardcore VP pick would net him more votes than playing to moderacy and trying to capture more of the vanishing center.

Unfortunately Paul Ryan is really easy to attack since his plan is horse gak and no one not on a conservative payroll that knows anything about simple mathematics thinks it's anything other than the teaparties wishlist of ideological cuts.

I'm anxious to see what the seniors think of Paul Ryan now as VP...

Last year, during the budget battle, the Seniors FAVORED Paul's plan (which boggles mind).

Give it a few weeks, he'll take a beating.

**Jihadin**

Might have to research that recall battle he did. I do know a lot of unions don't like him

**Happygrunt**

So, let me get this straight. If Romney wins, we get to build Rapture? SIGN ME UP!

In all seriousness, I am waiting for the Romney camp to come out and say "JUST KIDDING" and pick a more moderate candidate.

**Jihadin**

Political

* Currently serving seventh term as a member of Congress.
* Ryan was little known outside Janesville when he ran for
Congress in 1998 at age 28. He captured 57 percent of the vote.
* Ryan's first budget plan, which he called "Roadmap for
America's Future," was released in 2010.
* Early in his career as a representative to Congress, Ryan
held office hours in an old truck he converted into an office.
* Ryan was the legislative director for Sen. Sam Brownback
of Kansas, 1995-1997.

Personal

* Born and raised in the community of Janesville; Ryan is a
fifth-generation Wisconsin native.
* Ryan moonlighted on Capitol Hill as a waiter at the Tortilla Coast
restaurant and as a fitness trainer at Washington Sport and Health
Club.
* One of Ryan's summer jobs in college was as an Oscar Mayer
salesman in Minnesota, peddling turkey bacon and a new line
called "Lunchables" to supermarkets.
* Ryan worked as a marketing consultant for his family's construction business before being elected to Congress. The company -- Ryan Incorporated Central -- began as an earthmoving business created by his great-grandfather in 1884.
* Ryan's hobbies include hunting and fishing. He is a bowhunter and belongs to his hometown's archery association - the Janesville Bowmen.
* For fun, Ryan noodles catfish, catching them barehanded with a fist down their throats.
* Ryan listens to Rage Against the Machine and Led Zeppelin

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/11/biography-rep-paul-ryan/#ixzz23HGeSxyb

For the life of me. I can't see myself noodling for cat fish

**youbedead**

Well I guess he's got a decent taste in music

**DutchKillsRambo**

youbedead wrote:Well I guess he's got a decent taste in music

Pretty much how I decide who to vote for.

**Jihadin**

LOL it shows he human instead of some monster

Wonder at times if the Oscar Meyer song goes through his head unbidden

**feeder**

How does he listen to RATM? Does he not pay attention to the lyrics?

**whembly**

feeder wrote:How does he listen to RATM? Does he not pay attention to the lyrics?

You can like the music but, not agree with the lyrics!

I hate Audioslave's politics (pinko communist bastich), but musically, fething awesome.

**azazel the cat**

Felt like sharing this.

**d-usa**

Anybody who says they have a plan for the budget, and starts it with taking an option completely off the table, is a fluke in my opinion. That is my beef with the majority of politicians. You cannot pretend to be serious about budget cuts and then have sacred cows.

And it is a sad thing when the VP candidate has more actual plans than Romney, who says "I have a plan" but never actually gives any kind of details.

**feeder**

whembly wrote:
feeder wrote:How does he listen to RATM? Does he not pay attention to the lyrics?

You can like the music but, not agree with the lyrics!

Oh. I can't do that. If I don't like the message, then I don't care how cool it sounds.

**ShumaGorath**

feeder wrote:
whembly wrote:
feeder wrote:How does he listen to RATM? Does he not pay attention to the lyrics?

You can like the music but, not agree with the lyrics!

Oh. I can't do that. If I don't like the message, then I don't care how cool it sounds.

RATM (other than being the height of hypocrisy) actually speaks a lot to rands message. They rail against the military industrial complex, government surveillance, and government intrusion. RATM is somewhat teaparty friendly when you divorce it from it's republican owners. A lot of RATM lovers are libertarians or tea partiers (which is a sign that they're ideologies are dumb).

**Jihadin**

Oh Gawd no. Music is going to be an issue in this election? nnnnnnnooooooooooooo

Your to young to view if you haven't heard of RATM

One of my fav

edit
To bad they broke up cause they went to commercial.

**DAaddict**

d-usa wrote:Anybody who says they have a plan for the budget, and starts it with taking an option completely off the table, is a fluke in my opinion. That is my beef with the majority of politicians. You cannot pretend to be serious about budget cuts and then have sacred cows.

And it is a sad thing when the VP candidate has more actual plans than Romney, who says "I have a plan" but never actually gives any kind of details.

Romney has no plan... You mean like "Hope and Change?"

**Jihadin**

I thought it was "Change you can believe in"?

**AustonT**

Jihadin wrote:I thought it was "Change you can believe in"?

Hope and Change comes from the now oft aped red white and blue posters from the 2008 Campaign, but Change we can believe in was the official Slogan.

**whembly**

Jihadin wrote:Oh Gawd no. Music is going to be an issue in this election? nnnnnnnooooooooooooo

Your to young to view if you haven't heard of RATM

One of my fav

edit
To bad they broke up cause they went to commercial.

Dang... need to fire them up on the 'ol stereo...

Listening to this now...

**d-usa**

DAaddict wrote:
d-usa wrote:Anybody who says they have a plan for the budget, and starts it with taking an option completely off the table, is a fluke in my opinion. That is my beef with the majority of politicians. You cannot pretend to be serious about budget cuts and then have sacred cows.

And it is a sad thing when the VP candidate has more actual plans than Romney, who says "I have a plan" but never actually gives any kind of details.

Romney has no plan... You mean like "Hope and Change?"

You seem to be confusing motto's with plans. Romney has not given any actual plans, when asked "how do you plan to do x" he just replies "I have a plan". He often says what he wants to do, but never really says how he plans to do it.

Ryan has plans and actually is able to state how he thinks he will make his plans happen.

It is sad when the base is more excited about the veep than they ever were about Romney.

**Jihadin**

Ryan and Christie 2016 lol

**Ouze**

Jihadin wrote:Ryan and Christie 2016 lol

Chris Christie is too fat to get elected. In my opinion, modern Americans are too image conscious to elect an obese president.

**Jihadin**

obese

Ouze....its a common sight all over...Chubby's. Ryan a Fitness trainer and Christie...a man who enjoys his meals

**dogma**

Ouze wrote:
Who would you have picked?

For Romney? Probably Ryan. As I said, ideally you don't want to expose any additional Senate seats to elections, and its questionable as to whether or not your could convince a Senator with any political upside to run with you*. He also has the advantage of shoring up Romney's conservative credentials, while also strengthening the perception that a Romney Administration would be very business oriented.

My second choice would probably have been Jeb Bush, due to his popularity in Florida and public criticism of Obama. Though its questionable as to whether or not he would be seen as sufficiently conservative, though the ability to campaign well in Florida largely mitigates that. I also don't really see his name being a huge drag on the campaign, though it might be a tough sell in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Third choice would be Hunstman. He's probably the best suited to the job, but not the best suited to actually helping his ticket get the job.

*Due to his age and length of tenure, Biden was never going to rise higher than VP.

**Piston Honda**

Ouze wrote:
Jihadin wrote:Ryan and Christie 2016 lol

Chris Christie is too fat to get elected. In my opinion, modern Americans are too image conscious to elect an obese president.

That is hilarious.

Other than his stance on gay marriage, I rather like Chris Christie for the most part. One of the few republicans that does not come off as a mean spirited jack wagon.

**Jihadin**

I would have avoided Jeb for another four yrs. The "Bush" stigma bit comes to mind

**dogma**

DAaddict wrote:
Romney has no plan... You mean like "Hope and Change?"

Those are variations on a campaign slogan, not an articulated platform, which the Obama Administration most definitely had.

But then, so does Romney.

**Melissia**

Well, kind of.

**dogma**

Jihadin wrote:I would have avoided Jeb for another four yrs. The "Bush" stigma bit comes to mind

Maybe, but historically VPs don't have a huge effect on the overall popular vote. They can, however, be important in certain states and Florida is a good place to have a selective advantage.

**Piston Honda**

dogma wrote:
Ouze wrote:
Who would you have picked?

For Romney? Probably Ryan. As I said, ideally you don't want to expose any additional Senate seats to elections, and its questionable as to whether or not your could convince a Senator with any political upside to run with you*. He also has the advantage of shoring up Romney's conservative credentials, while also strengthening the perception that a Romney Administration would be very business oriented.

My second choice would probably have been Jeb Bush, due to his popularity in Florida and public criticism of Obama. Though its questionable as to whether or not he would be seen as sufficiently conservative, though the ability to campaign well in Florida largely mitigates that. I also don't really see his name being a huge drag on the campaign, though it might be a tough sell in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Third choice would be Hunstman. He's probably the best suited to the job, but not the best suited to actually helping his ticket get the job.

*Due to his age and length of tenure, Biden was never going to rise higher than VP.

Only other person that would have made sense was Rubio, only quality he has over Paul Ryan is that he could bring in more of the Hispanic vote which Romney's current poll numbers are about 25%. Past several elections the Republican candidate needs 35+ percent of the Hispanic vote.

I don't see Paul Ryan bringing in a large percent of Hispanic voters to the polls, but he does energize the base with his values and is articulate (no Palinisms). This could be more of an alley-oop for Paul Ryan in 2016.

Curious to see if this pick with energize the Left as the VP pick of 2008 did?

Paul Ryan's plan for government aid for college students is not exactly popular.

And not sure about Senior Citizens.

They hate that socialism but love their social Security and Medicare.

Either way, solid pick for Romney, helps his dry mop personality and a strong conservative foundation for the future.

**AustonT**

Jihadin wrote:I would have avoided Jeb for another four yrs. The "Bush" stigma bit comes to mind

"Bush Fatigue" is what Jeb cited as the reason he didn't run. There was literally zero chance he would attach himself to any of this cycles candidates. But he did say on CBS Morning he may have missed his opportunity. He is a youngish guy though if Mitt loses 2016 is likely to be a Bush ticket.