Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Paul Ryan for Romney VP?

Welcome to O-Pinion. I'm associate editor Fannie Flono, your host today.

With conventional wisdom continuing to anoint Mitt Romney as the GOP presidential nominee as he racks up more and more primary wins - including an expected victory in Wisconsin today, conservative columnist William Kristol has a sobering analysis in the Weekly Standard of GOP and Romney's general election chances. He says the Republican campaign is more backward-looking than forward-looking, depending on voters unhappiness with the incumbent rather than plotting a different, better path ahead for the country. In a general election, "such campaigns degenerate into endless sniping about various misstatements and gaffes by both candidates, and put great emphasis on tactical moves and get-out-the-vote trench warfare in key states. ... Obama could win such a campaign," he said. The good news, Kristol says, is "that Romney is capable of turning around an enterprise that’s likely to fail. The bad news is that it’s harder to turn one around if the failure isn’t yet obvious. The irony is that a Romney victory in the primaries will then pose the ultimate test of his ability as a turnaround artist."

Josh Kraushaar of the National Journal is already looking ahead past a Romney nomination win, and tagging possible running mates. He says House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan "merits serious consideration."

"With a victory in the Wisconsin primary tonight, Mitt Romney would be in commanding position for the nomination - and he can thank one of the state's most prominent Republicans for the help. House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan has been a regular on Romney's Wisconsin roadshow, and the two have bonded during their time together. It's not surprising: Both Ryan and Romney are wonks, less comfortable in the glad-handing aspect of politics. Ryan has embraced Romney's candidacy, and Romney has embraced Ryan's entitlement-reforming budget proposal... With Ryan, Romney would be getting a running mate whose policy ideas would take center stage (a risk, to be sure) but whose personality wouldn't overshadow the nominee.

Ryan's policies are set for a smackdown today, if advance notices of a speech President Barack Obama plans to give to the Associated Press' Annual Luncheon today are on point. The president is expected to call a budget proposal Ryan has released “radical” and a “Trojan horse."

“It’s a Trojan horse. Disguised as deficit reduction plan, it's really an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country,” Obama is expected to say. “It's nothing but thinly veiled social Darwinism.”

Obama's getting smacked himself for his comments about the Supreme Court and its decision expected this summer on the health-care reform law. The Weekly Standard's Jeffrey Anderson calls him out for saying: "I’m confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress... And I’d just remind conservative commentators that for years what we’ve heard is the biggest problem on the bench was judicial activism or a lack of judicial restraint, that an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law.”

Anderson said "these comments will surely make a great many Americans scratch their heads and wonder: How can a graduate of Harvard Law School, a former part-time lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School, and the current president of the United States, suggest an apparent lack of awareness of the doctrine of judicial review? Contrary to Obama’s contention, however, the Court’s power to strike down unconstitutional congressional acts has repeatedly been exercised (sometimes legitimately, sometimes not)."

It's been tit-for-tat this election season, and the body blows are getting harder as the season goes on.

12 comments:

Sean said...

As a Democrat, I find Ryan to be a smart VP choice. While I don't necessarily agree with his ideology, from an objective point of view he seems smart, articulate and innovative.

I'd be curious how true Republicans feel about him.

Anonymous said...

To Sean

I am not sure what you mean by "true Republicans", but this Republican likes Ryan. This Republican is economically conservative favoring a reduced role by the federal government. On most social issues, I may personally be more traditional, but believe others get to choose for themselves (so I would say moderate).

Superb Jon said...

Santorum prefers Obama to Romney because Obama was raised by a Catholic grandmother. Vatican Osservatore Romano editor Vian said on May 18th that Obama "is not a pro-abortion president" - proves stand to encourage Catholics to breed and to encourage non-Catholics to abort out of spite. The Vatican likes the abortion status quo in the USA for this reason. Their purpose is only conquest, not faith. Carolignian Brzezinski spawned Zia al Haq, Khomeini, and bin Laden - breaks up superpowers via Aztlan and Kosovo as per Joel Garreau's Nine Nations. Brzezinski, Buckley and Buchanan winked anti-Semitic votes for Obama, delivered USA to Pope's feudal basket of Bamana Republics. Michael Pfleger and Joe Biden prove Obama is the Pope's boy. Obama is half a Kearney from County Offaly in Ireland. Talal got Pontifical medal as Fatima mandates Catholic-Muslim union against Jews (Francis Johnson, Great Sign, 1979, p. 126), Catholic Roger Taney wrote Dred Scott decision. John Wilkes Booth, Tammany Hall and Joe McCarthy were Catholics. Now Catholic majority Supreme Court. Catholics Palmisano, Grasso, Damato, Langone, Mozilo, Ranieri, Dioguardi, Palmieri destroyed American industry with their casuistrous ethics. Subprime construction mobsters had hookers deliver mortgages to banks. McCain's Keeting started it all. Brzezinski set up Arab Spring and Zia, so why surprised bin Laden was in Sineurabia code? Pakistanis descend from weasels who sold their Hindu brothers into hundreds of years of islamic slavery. That is why FIAT supplied Iran and every Catholic is like a Manchurian Candidate programmed to kill their best friend of they felt the "Holy Father" required it. They find American cars too advanced to use or their mechanics to fix. Ellis Island Popecrawlers brought in FDR. Since Pio Nino banned voting they consider our Constitution and laws immoral and illegitimate and think nothing of violating them or passing legislation that undermine them. They believe that they can not be fully loyal to their superiors if they do not go the extra stretch and break the law intentionally. Their slovenly, anti-intellectual work ethic produces vacuous, casuistrous blather and a tangle of hypocritical, contradictory regulations. Their clubhouse purges provided praetorian training for corporate misgovernance. They sided with the enemy in both World Wars and now, too. Every American boom has been caused by an Evangelical Revival and every major Depression by the domination of new Catholic immigrants. NYC top drop outs: Hispanic 32%, Black 25%, Italian 20%. NYC top illegals: Ecuadorean, Italian, Polish. Ate glis-glis but blamed plague on others, now lettuce coli. Their bigotry most encouraged terror yet they reap most security funds. View this life as casuistry training to survive purgatory. Rabbi circumcises lower, Pope upper brain. Tort explosion by glib casuistry. Hollywood Joe Kennedy had Bing Crosby proselytize. Bazelya 1992 case proves PLO-IRA-KLA links. Our enemy is the Bru666elles Sineurabia feudal Axis and the only answer is alliance with Israel and India. They killed six million Jews, a million Serbs, half a million freemasons, a quarter million Gypsies, they guided the slaughter of Assyrians and Armenians, and promoted the art of genocide throughout the world now they are relentless in their year to canonize nazi pope. 9/11 was Yugo Crimean blowback: Napoleon started the crusade against the Photius Heresy to avenge his uncle, Clinton wanted to cover Pacelli's war crimes. They had no qualms hijacking American policy in Vietnam or Balkans to papal ends, but when American interests opposed those of the papacy in Iraq and Iran, they showed their true fangs (Frum, Unpatriotic Conservatives).

Anonymous said...

Ryan would be the "perfect" VP for Romney. The two would insure President Obama's second term.

Anonymous said...

As a Ron Paul supporter, I'd agree that Ryan as VP is a great choice. It would placate the Tea-Baggers and ultra conservatives who are upset that Santorum or Perry didn't win the nomination.

Anonymous said...

This Republican is a big Ryan fan who doesn't want him as VP. Ryan needs to remain in Congress and be the new Speaker of the House. He seems to be the only person in Washington who has figured out that Congress must CUT SPENDING to stop the pileup of more debt. You can scream "the rich aren't paying their fair share" all you want, but the fact of the matter is that if you were to sieze every red cent of net worth from the Occupy-demonized 1%, you could only fund the government for about 8 months. The problem is not insufficient revenue, but out-of-control spending. Ryan's budget proposal needs to be taken seriously.

Anonymous said...

I agree with "J", the main problem is spending, not revenue.

Garth Vader said...

Ryan's budget doesn't balance until 2040, and it achieves balance ONLY through "growth" that we know will not happen as deficits and debt continue to consume us.

Ryan would win a debate with Biden in the eyes of the 37 people who would tune in, but then again a hamster could defeat Joe "stand up" Biden.

Sean said...

Good call on my "true Republican" comment. I can see how that was somewhat loaded. Basically I meant to convey from a Republican who wasn't secretly an Internet Democrat stirring the pot.

One of the things I have missed since moving from DC is having real conversations with people who disagree with me. (Sometimes I actually learn something.)

Also interesting point on Ryan as Speaker. There is a part of me that considered that as well. He seems like a rising star in the Republican Party.

Anonymous said...

Paul Ryan, may not even get re-elected and he is suppose to be the answer for Mitt "TAX CHEAT" Romney's failed Presidential bid. WOW...not too much common sense going on in this area. Clearly Mitt Romney needs a plain conservative Republican VP! Marco Rubio or even Rick Santorum would be his best choice.

Southernboy JJ

Anonymous said...

We wish the NY Times (not to be confused with the Washington Times)could be a fraction as conservative as your Charlotte SC newspaper and that is an excellent idea concerning Ryan as VP.
The Times is so liberal even liberals get nauseated reading it.

JGoldstein

Michael Procton said...

Rick Santorum as VP? Were you looking for a sequel to Palin's HBO movie?