Looking to see Romney and his new vice-presidential candidate with a ticking stopwatch? “60 Minutes” has you covered tonight.
“I, W. Mitt Romney, am a man of the people. You can tell, because I am wearing neither jacket nor blazer. No sportcoat for me; they’re so patrician!”
“Much like the slightly older version of myself standing directly to my right, I, Paul Ryan, am also a man of the people! I have chosen to signal this to the hoi polloi by eschewing a tie!”
“Just the kind of outside-the-box thinking this country needs. Thanks, Paul! I will now smile, as focus group data tells me that such mouth-contortions indicate happiness and enthusiasm!”
“I’ve seen data to similar effect, Mitt! Let us both smile together!”
In what may be the best reblog of the entire morning.
The point to take from Ryan’s speech: ”What kind of country do we want to have? What kind of people do we want to be? We can turn this thing around.” The speech ends, and Kid Rock’s “Born Free” plays. Fitting. Read up on what you missed here.
Sample local reaction: “Well that place is now forever tainted - ‘Romney and Ryan are due to appear at a campaign event in Norfolk, Va…beside the USS Wisconsin.’”
This is a crucial moment in the life of our nation; and it is absolutely vital that we select the right man to lead.Paul Ryan • Making his pitch in favor of Romney. Ryan evoked his father, who died when he was in high school, in his speech. (more here)
Amazing gaffe by Romney: “Join me in welcoming the next president of the United States: Paul Ryan!” Not vice president. President.
”Paul and I are beginning on a journey that will take us to every corner of America,” Romney says on his VP pick. Zeke Miller points out that Romney walked out on the score to the movie “Air Force One.” (more here)
I represent a part of America that includes inner cities, rural areas, suburbs and factory towns. Over the years I have seen and heard from a lot from families, from those running small businesses, and from people who are in need. But what I have heard lately troubles me the most. There is something different in their voice and in their words. What I hear from them are diminished dreams, lowered expectations, uncertain futures.Rep. Paul Ryan • In prepared remarks the just-tapped vice-presidential candidate plans to give this morning. (more here)
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Happening soon: Romney introduces Paul Ryan as his VP pick. Watch over here. The local paper is covering too. (And follow our tag here.)
The Christian Science Monitor’s comparison of the Paul Ryan and Obama deficit plans nails things with a single sentence: “As Obama himself noted today, this fiscal confrontation represents a profound disagreement about the nature of government.”
There’s more to it than that. But that one sentence says more about the differences between the philosophies of the two than anything we can put together. Maybe Paul Ryan should run for president in 2012. Because, clearly, Obama’s giving him more attention than any other member of Congress now, and he’s clearly looking at an ideological fight that the American people should answer to. What direction do we want for our country in the long term: Paul Ryan’s or Obama’s? Or is it somewhere in-between? That’s the real question here. By giving it so much attention — and such a tough rebuttal — that’s effectively what Obama just did. By putting the Ryan plan on a pedestal, then knocking it over, he raised Paul Ryan’s stature even further. Unlike any of the fights with Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann or Donald Trump, this is about actual real non-trivial stuff. If we were the GOP, we’d be poking at Paul Ryan to convince him to run, stat.
To put it simply, there was a period in the early part of the GOP primary race where the candidates were looking extremely boring or unserious — Donald Trump was a thing at this point — and (rather than paying attention to them) Obama responded by focusing heavily on Ryan’s budget plan, even if he disagreed with it. Even though Ryan didn’t run for president then, the point above is the fundamental conversation our country now gets to have on a national scale. Whether or not you like Ryan, he bumps up the “maturity” factor of the 2012 campaign significantly and could help Romney from getting sucked into another “Etch A Sketch” blender for a news cycle.
U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan is in his seventh term in Congress representing Wisconsin’s First Congressional District. He is Chairman of the House Budget Committee, where he has worked tirelessly leading the effort to reign in federal spending and increase accountability to taxpayers. He also serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, where he has focused on simplifying the tax code and making health care more affordable and accessible.
In January 2010, Ryan gained attention nationwide after unveiling his “Roadmap for America’s Future,” a proposal to eliminate the federal deficit, reform the tax code, and preserve entitlements for future generations.
Representative Ryan was born in Janesville, Wisconsin on January 29, 1970. A fifth-generation Wisconsin native, Ryan was the youngest of four children born to Paul Ryan Sr., who worked as an attorney, and Betty, a stay-at-home mom.
In April 2000, Ryan proposed to Janna Little, a native Oklahoman, at one of his favorite fishing spots, Big St. Germain Lake in Wisconsin. Later that year, the two were married in Oklahoma City.
The Ryans reside in Janesville with their three children, Liza, Charlie and Sam. The family are parishioners at St. John Vianney Catholic Church.
Upon entering Congress in January of 1999, Ryan was the youngest member of the freshmen class at the age of 28. Prior to running for Congress, Ryan served as an aide to Republican Senators Robert Kasten Jr. and Sam Brownback, former U.S. Rep. and Vice Presidential Candidate Jack Kemp, and as a speechwriter for Education Secretary William Bennett.
Ryan is a graduate of Joseph A. Craig High School in Janesville and earned degrees in economics and political science from Miami University in Ohio. He is an avid outdoorsman and is a member is of his local archery association, the Janesville Bowmen.
Something tells us it may be hard for him to keep up that membership with the Janesville Bowmen. Romney announced it via his app, though media outlets broke the news last night.
Mitt Romney chooses Paul Ryan as running mate
Mitt Romney has chosen Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan to be his vice presidential running mate.
Sourced reports of the news emerged late last night, and Romney’s “Mitt’s VP” mobile app confirmed the choice this morning. Romney is holding an event in Norfolk, Virginia, at 9 a.m. EDT today to make the formal announcement. More updates on BreakingNews.com.
Photo: Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 10, 2012. (J. Scott Applewhite / AP)
Of course they would leapfrog the official announcement with the app. Of course.
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