Romney Announces Paul Ryan as His VP Pick: Will He Be Able to Win With This Ticket?
Early Saturday morning, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney announced that he had chosen Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate for the 2012 presidential election.
42-year-old Ryan, is considered a rising GOP star and the party’s leader on fiscal and budgetary issues. Ryan is chairman of the House Budget Committee and the architect of the House GOP’s budget proposal, and his selection as Romney’s vice-presidential pick ensures that the economy will be the defining issue of the election.
Ryan’s place on the ticket is sure to appease the party’s conservative wing, which has never fully warmed to the more moderate Romney. In Ryan, they find a like-minded ally who supports dramatic policy solutions to the U.S.’s fiscal woes. Ryan, who is an energetic debater, will bring youthful vigor to the campaign and will help Romney in Wisconsin and across the Midwest.
However, Ryan also comes with some downsides. Thus far, Romney’s campaign has been geared toward making the election a referendum on the president. Now, Romney is tied to a very specific budget plan that has a name and a face and has been widely criticized by Obama and his fellow democrats. In an April speech, Obama called Ryan’s budget plan a "thinly veiled social Darwinism." Romney’s choice in Ryan will certainly energize the GOP base, but it will also energize Democrats who do not want to see “the end of Medicare as we know it.”
What do you think about Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate? Will he be able to win with this ticket?
Yes and why
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No and why
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Being from Wisconsin, I've seen the enormous response this has provoked, and I certainly think it gives Romney the edge in Wisconsin. Also, unlike Obama, Ryan is willing to put forth a budget. I'm already getting my popcorn ready for the Biden-Ryan debate, that's just going to be hilarious ;) Also, its a liberal myth that Ryan wants to end Medicare. Side: Yes and why
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I'm supper exited that he picked Ryan. I am a fiscal conservative above all els and Romney was not inspiring on that level. Romney is a rhino (I voted for Ron Paul, though he still wasn't my perfect candidate) on many issues but now.... I am exited about the prospect of Ryan being Romney's spending conscience. Bring on November! Side: Yes and why
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The question isn't "who do you like?". It's "will he be able to win with this ticket?" Frankly, I would be surprised if you were on the fence before the Ryan announcement. Would you have voted for Obama in any scenario? No. So, Romney didn't really gain your vote with his announcement. He already had it. What he loses is a certain centrist element. I haven't been overly impressed with Obama, but I don't think he's the anti-Christ that you all do. I could have considered a Gingrich and was really hoping that Bloomberg would run. To win the election, Romeny has to be able to pull votes from the Center (moderate guys like me). And moderates can't stand Paul Ryan. We think of him about how you think of Obama. So, Romney just lost a lot of votes. There's no way in hell that people like me will vote for Romney. There's a moderates will swing for a third-party candidate. Matter of fact, the best thing that can happen now is for a third party candidate to throw his hat in the ring. If the economy worsen between now and November, it could pull back in Romeny's favor. Side: Yes and why
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I think it's funny that everyone who's saying he can win the ticket seems to be for Romney/Ryan and vise verse. Why can't people ever cris cross?? (; When it comes to winning I have to say the unthinkable; I don't know. But I will say that this "middle ground" of people supposedly just waiting for this VP pick to see who they're going to vote for isn't as big as everybody on the left is saying. It's not like the goodold days. More people are into politics now, more people are biased now. It's just the way it is. People already know who there voting for early on. I think they just wan't to kill the fun for conservatives because by the way the right is stoked about this pick(for the most part) We have a decent ticket with people with good ideas and ideals and we might have a good shot. So naturally there will be many attacks on this ticket as can be. Which should be fun be cause all they seem to get is that Romney left a dog on a car and then there's Ryan who is literally a boy scout. So go ahead and watch the left grasp at straws. Side: Yes and why
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Every single one of the hard core conservatives where already voting for 'not-Obama', Paul offers them nothing that Romney doesn't that would force them to change their vote. All his pick does is alienate the middle ground - the real votes that matter. By putting something so concrete in front of them, people now have an actual choice of who they're picking - and I wonder how many people are going to pick such a deep cut in social support for those who need it? Side: No and why
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Exactly, whether or not Ryan was picked was irrelevant to the far right, Obama wouldn't win them over. But now the vast amount of centrists that could have been swayed from Obama to Romney will likely be put off by the extremity of Ryan's economic policies. Basically, Romney just lost Florida. Side: No and why
"But now the vast amount of centrists that could have been swayed from Obama to Romney will likely be put off by the extremity of Ryan's economic policies. Basically, Romney just lost Florida." Take medicare for example, I know you must think it's soo extreme to give citizens so many options to choose from. After the age of 50 or 55 I think, people would have the choice to keep what they have and not participate. Hi's policy is full of freedom and options for people. I know that must sound "extreme" to somebody like you. So basically, it would be Florida's loss. (though I'm thinking more big picture stuff)
With the way things are going it won't soon be a stretch to call freedom and the bare constitutional ideals "extreme" If you go from point A to point F going back to point A will seem pretty extreme. Thus it's all about perspective. Big Gov. vs small gov. And another thing I really don't think the number of undecided centrists that are vulnerable to sway is really all that big. I think it used to be but politics have changed in recent years. That vast amount you speak of seems to be shrinking. I think most people know who they're going to vote or not vote for. Side: Yes and why
I entirely agree. He failed to address one or even both demographics he has had extreme troubles with; latino’s and women. Ryan addresses the base of the party (as we all know), a group that in its entirety, hates Obama. This conclusion is not difficult to come by, but another factor of his equation was his (Romney’s) inability to excite those very same people; the base of the party. So in a way, Ryan will bring out that demographic, but the effect someone such as Marko Rubio would have posed a detrimental problem to Obama’s campaign. Rubio would certainly have alleviated the pain of a 20% support rate from a Latino group, and so far, a rate at which it is nearly impossible to win. Side: No and why
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Strategically, Ryan was an absolutely disastrous choice and Romney may have just handed the election to Obama. The reason is that Ryan brings too much liability and not enough asset to the table. Yes, Ryan shores up Romney with some (not all) conservatives, but were the conservatives ever on the fence? It's not like conservatives were going to cross over and vote for Obama. The middle or the moderate has always been up for grabs. There are a lot of moderates who aren't particularly in love with Obama, who say "he's just okay" at best. Moderates would consider a Centrist-leaning Romney. At a glance, Romney appeared to be more centrist, but he had to run back to the run in order to try to win the nomination. He's stated position is almost exactly the opposite of WHAT HE'S ACTUALLY DONE: Health care that looks like ObamaCare and Anti-Gun legislation. Mdoerates can accept that there's a certain amount of pandering that goes on in any election. But Romney has to come back to the center, right? He'll choose a candidate with centrist appeal? Ryan. There couldn't be a worse choice. He epitomizes everything that moderates dislike about the right. By choosing him, Romeny basically says "Go vote for Obama". And we will. Side: No and why
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Having read up on Ryan a little (on holiday, a little behind the times), it really shows how desperate Romney is in this election. By electing someone so extreme, and focused on the economy, Romney is hedging all of his bets on a single issue, which is so politically divided in the electorate. Ryan has little to no experience on any other issue - foreign policy, social issues, military - and I'd really like to see Obama push their campaign towards these directions. Now that Romney's actually put something forward a little more concrete (still a shit tonne of unanswered questions), the election will start to get a little more interesting, and I'd say it will go away from Romney. Side: No and why
I don't like the Republicans that much. Ron Paul was one of the few. I like Chris Christie after seeing how he saved New Jersy. I liked Paul Ryan because of his voucher proposal for healthcare reform. But Romney choosing Ryan is just going to appeal to the Right Wing. Libertarians want a true revolutionary, and while Ryan had a brilliant voucher proposal, it's lost to his appeal to the moderate mainstream in his new fiscal plan. for those who don't know, the voucher program would be like a system of welfare for healthcare. Like food stamps, but for health insurance. This would have opened up competition and decreased the amount of money we spend on medicare and medicaid, and of course the liberals hated it saying that he wanted old people to die... fuckin' assholes. So his new fiscal plan is just more big government mumbo-jumbo. It's only a few trillion dollars less than Obama's fiscal plan and is not revolutionary in any way. Paul Ryan is an example as to how politics can take something good and turn it into more of the same shit you've seen. Romney is a slightly less expensive Obama, so he's not worth it. I'm still going for Gary Johnson. I registered Republican just to vote for Ron Paul, and that ended depressingly. So I'm back to hating the Republican party for their bullshit. The only thing that saves them is that they're not Democrats, which not only believes in more spending but doesn't even deliver on the few liberal policies that it used to promise (drug war reform, anti-war, etc.) Side: No and why
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I love that you bash republicans and liberals in the same argument. That's so rare these days. And I too am depressed about the whole Ron Paul thing. Anyways, I wan't to know why you think Romney is a less expensive Obama. And how Ryan's plan has anything to do with big gov. Even though Romney has his own fiscal plan.. Side: Yes and why
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