Allahpundit
HotAir.com
8/12/2012
In choosing Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) as his running mate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney not only surprised the political world late Friday night, but he has become a different candidate for president over night.
He is suddenly someone willing to take a risk, someone offering specifics instead of generalities, and someone willing to sell his own agenda to the voters instead of trying to bash his way into the Oval Office. And by embracing Ryan, and the controversial policy heft he brings to the ticket, Romney is now a serious candidate who has displayed true leadership — the willingness to do something politically dangerous because he believes it is the right thing to do…
Romney has shown now he doesn’t plan to try and win by default. He has chosen the best person, likely the only person, who can convince an anxious electorate of the need to swallow some dreadful medicine. If Ryan can’t do it, then it’s likely nobody can.
Many close aides had been lobbying for the low-risk, non-objectionable Pawlenty, arguing that the two could run as outsiders, taking on Washington…
Instead, Romney went for one of the most prominent faces in Washington. “Do no harm,” the campaign’s longtime philosophy about choosing a ticket mate, had suddenly become: “Let’s take a chance.” For several weeks, top aides had seen that Romney was learning toward bold over safe.
“Chemistry, seriousness, bigness,” said one of Romney’s closest advisers, when asked what sealed the deal for Ryan. “Win with a mandate to fix what needed to be fixed.”
Romney is rolling the dice on a bet that voters crave “substance” — in this case, a deep debate about the deficit and entitlement cuts that Romney himself has mostly dodged up to this point…
For the GOP’s conservative base, Ryan’s entry holds the tantalizing promise of elevating Romney’s game, inciting a debate on the familiar and friendly battlefield of the tea party-dominated 2010 midterms.
The 42-year-old Wisconsin congressman “knows the game — he knows math — he knows exactly what the country needs,” said Alan Simpson, the former Republican senator from Wyoming Obama tapped to co-chair his deficit commission.
“There will be an adult conversation, therefore the children will throw emotion, fear, guilt, and racism on him,” he added. “They will bomb him, bomb him, shell him coastline and bunker, and he will survive. He has facts. He uses math. He’s damn good. He’s excellent.”…
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…[B]y making this choice, Mitt Romney is declaring war. There will be no evasion, no triangulation, no attempt to mask what is at stake in this election. Instead, Romney and Ryan will directly confront Barack Obama and call him to account for putting us on a ruinous course.
This will alter radically the dynamics of the race. The money spent by Obama trying to demonize Governor Romney will prove to be money entirely wasted. The election is not going to be about Mitt Romney. It is not going to be about the sexual revolution. It is not going to be about Bain Capital. It is going to be about the failed policies of Barack Obama, about their dangerous character, and about the sober, sound alternative the Republicans represent.
This will help the Republicans in Senate and House races immeasurably, for it will give Romney and Ryan coattails — now, without a doubt, the candidates in these other races have something concrete on which to run: repeal Obamacare, pare back the entitlements state, reform our system of taxation, and put our fiscal house in order. No one will doubt the capacity of the Republicans to rule.
I have predicted that Romney will win by a landslide. The choice of Paul Ryan means that Romney has chosen the path that will maximize the significance of his victory and its impact on the races for seats in the House and Senate…
The complete article, with video, is at HotAir.com
Also at HotAir, Video: Erskine Bowles says Ryan budget “sensible … honest, serious”
Our favorite quote of the day:
click on the image to enlarge
In response to this assault in Iowa today, Get In Their Faces: Leftist Hecklers Charge Stage, Punch a Volunteeer at Ryan Rally; USAToday Calls Them “Spirited”
Hopefully the Congressman has a concealed carry permit.
