Introducing Paul Ryan

Four years ago, I wrote a piece on this blog celebrating the shrewdness of Sen. John McCain and his selection of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.  At the time, there was a growing discord amongst Democrats that their preferred candidate for the Vice President, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, was not even on the ticket after doing better than any woman in the history of electoral politics during the primaries.  And the Republicans were in a position that only a Hail Mary pass would help them.  In came a political unknown, a governor and former mayor from the state of Alaska, with a personal biography that looked as if it had been written for a Hollywood movie-former beauty queen turned mother-of-five, came up out of nowhere to become the governor of Alaska, and was now poised to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.  Additionally, her convention speech was a stunner, and it seemed as if the Republicans had a shot at the White House.

Well, we all know what happened next, and so as not to embarrass myself again, I'll try not to chide or congratulate Gov. Mitt Romney on his selection of Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his running mate.  I'll try to just stick to the facts.

In the plus column, you have a young (42, though he looks a decade younger), handsome (expect at least a couple of SNL lampoons on the P90x-ripped House member), and extremely articulate congressman who has been in the House of Representatives since 1998, meaning that he's been in since he was 28-years-old, meaning that if elected, he'd be the first Vice President born in the 1970's.

Ryan is almost assuredly going to "shut up" the conservative right wing of the Republican Party for the remainder of the election, something Mitt Romney has been desperate to do for the last two years.  Romney's choice is one of, if not the most, conservative men to ever run under the party's label for president-Paul Ryan is the candidate that many Tea Partiers dreamt Mitt Romney would be, and I suspect having as the Number two will be good enough for 2012.

Ryan is also an extremely likable person-look at his acceptance speech for proof.  This looks like the kind of guy you wanted to be friends with in high school, a hunting buddy or fellow PTA member who can relate to the average American.  Whether or not you believe that to be true when you combine it with his views is a different matter, but it's not a trait to underestimate, particularly considering how terrible Romney has been with relating to the average middle class American.  It also will make Ryan's debate against Vice President Joe Biden an epic one, and something for which the Democrats should immediately begin to prepare (I honestly think that Ryan goes into it the favorite, but for all his gaffes, few people can command a podium like Joe Biden when he's on his game).  Additionally, home state advantage could give Ryan a boost in Wisconsin, a swing state and a nice prize for Romney, since it's gone for the Democrats the last three cycles.  We'll have to watch for polls to see if there's an impact.

That being said, this is a risky, risky move.  As I said yesterday, Ryan bring a mountain of baggage with him that a Sen. Portman or a Gov. Pawlenty simply wouldn't have brought.  Not only is there the obvious-Ryan's views on Medicare, Pell Grants, and Social Security are already legend around Washington, and about to be legend in your living rooms, but he also has a 14-year voting record in Congress that the DNC is pouring over as I type this.  That long in Congress probably brings up some votes that Ryan wishes he could take back when facing the Vice Presidential nomination, rather than his swing district in Wisconsin.  And his views on Medicare, in particular, will be a tough sell in swing states like Florida where they have a disproportionately high senior citizen population.

The choice of Ryan also makes Romney look like a risk-taker, which is good to a certain extent, but this is a man who has carefully plotted every move of his campaign.  Clearly, a choice like Tim Pawlenty would have been more in-line with his "tow the line, don't make waves" campaign.  Paul Ryan is a bold choice, but one with far more risk, and a choice that a man that was already winning the election wouldn't have made.  It's another Hail Mary from the Republicans, but we won't know for the next few months whether it's a Hail Mary inline with Sarah Palin or one that will connect with voters.

I'm going to close this with a little soap-boxing about perhaps the most idiotic cliche I ever hear from voters complaining about the political process, that there's "no difference between the two candidates."  With Obama/Biden and Romney/Ryan, that is so ridiculously not the case that anyone who claims there's no difference should have their head examined.  Regardless of your opinions on the subjects, the two tickets present a decidedly different view on how to handle the economy, Social Security, Medicare, health care, the environment, education, tax cuts, and social issues, and it is your job to learn about these stances and vote accordingly.  Winston Churchill once said, "the best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter."  Don't be that voter-become informed, become involved, and vote.