Mitt Romney Chooses Paul Ryan As His Running Mate
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Mitt Romney announced Saturday that his choice for running mate will be Paul Ryan. (DonkeyHotey, Creative Commons)
Paul Ryan is chairman of the House Budget Committee, member of the Ways and Means Committee, and is currently in his seventh term as a member of Congress.
In his first speech as Romney’s running mate, Ryan remarked that America is in a “different, difficult, dangerous moment,” one to which President Obama has failed to adequately respond. Mitt Romney, on the other hand, as Ryan explained, would not shrink from the responsibility of making difficult decisions to improve the country. He said:
“Politicians from both parties have made empty promises which will soon become broken promises, with painful consequences, if we fail to act now…The commitment Mitt Romney and I make to you is this: we won't duck the tough issues – we will lead! We won't blame others – we will take responsibility!”
Both Democrats and Republicans have reacted with either glee or despair to Romney’s choice.
Ryan’s plans for social entitlement programs, including Medicare, have been rallying points for Democrats who oppose the limitation of the programs, and Republicans who are in favor of them.
The Obama campaign released a statement after the announcement:
“Ryan rubber-stamped the reckless Bush economic policies that exploded our deficit and crashed our economy. Now the Romney-Ryan ticket would take us back by repeating the same, catastrophic mistakes.”
However, as the Boston Globe reports:
“The choice will energize the conservative base, which heretofore has been less than enthused about marching into battle behind Mitt. After all, Ryan, the conservative Wisconsin ideas man, is the GOP's American Idol.
“Like Romney, his plan calls for doing all the deficit reduction on the spending side, which would require large, unspecified reductions in nearly all domestic programs.”
Yet, some Democrats are eager to face the pair now precisely because of Ryan’s budget proposals.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Romney’s choice “drew immediate fire from Democrats, who said they relished the opportunity to showcase Ryan's proposed reductions for Medicare and other social programs in their campaign.” Obama’s campaign manager even stated:
“Mitt Romney has chosen a leader of the House Republicans who shares his commitment to the flawed theory that new budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthy, while placing greater burdens on the middle class and seniors, will somehow deliver a stronger economy.”
Romney, though, introduced Ryan on Saturday as a man of character, citing his internalization of the “virtues and hard-working ethic of the Midwest.” CBS reports: “He [Romney] praised his [Ryan’s] work in Congress as a combination of ‘firm principles with a practical concern for getting things done.’ And even though Ryan is viewed as one of the ideological leaders of his party, Romney praised him as ‘a shining exception.’”
Ryan has brought to the campaign a clear vision for the future that was lacking. As summarized by the Huffington Post, “the selection of Ryan turns the election into a choice rather than a referendum on Obama's presidency.” According to the Washington Post, Romney
“had previously intended to make the campaign about nothing more than a referendum on the economy and Obama’s stewardship of it. Now it will be a choice between two starkly different ideological visions, one that drags the race onto the turf of tax fairness and entitlements — which is much more in line with the debate Dems wanted.”
Read more of Neon Tommy's coverage of the 2012 presidential campaigns here.
