Reax

Paul Ryan Hits the Trail

Aug 11, 2012 8:46 AM EDT

Hours after the joining the GOP ticket, Rep. Paul Ryan threw his first jabs at Obama, attacking the president's 'record of failure.' Howard Kurtz, Eleanor Clift, and more Daily Beast contributors on how Ryan will shake up the race.

Ryan: More Powerful Than Romney

by Peter Beinart

Mitt’s running mate has stronger ties to the GOP base than he does. Peter Beinart on how picking Paul Ryan hands Obama a big gift.

Chris Maddaloni, CQ Roll Call / Getty Images

In pressuring Mitt Romney into choosing Paul Ryan, the far right has pulled off a coup. As in, coup d’état.Think about this for a second. In the primaries Romney faced a series of more right-wing challengers: Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain.

What Mitt Just Bought

by Peter J. Boyer

Tapping Paul Ryan gives Romney a ticket mate who believes the problems facing the country are too serious to demagogue. Good luck with that.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Mitt Romney finally found a way to fire up the base—the other guy’s base. One needn’t venture beyond these pages to encounter gleeful liberal depictions of Romney’s new running mate, Paul Ryan, as an unhinged Randian plutocrat whose plans to kill Medicare (among other mustache-twirling villainies) will make him a “juicy target” for Obama and the Democrats this fall.

Be Afraid, Seniors

by Eleanor Clift

Now that Romney owns the Medicare-slashing Paul Ryan budget, the Democrats’ strategy going forward will be crystal clear: scare seniors into choosing Obama. By Eleanor Clift

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

It’s hard to tell who’s happiest now that House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan is joining the Republican ticket. Conservatives love him as one of their own, while Democrats see him as making their job a whole lot easier. For months, Democrats have been calling the budget plan that Ryan authored “the Romney-Ryan plan,” and now it’s official.

Murdoch Gets His Man

by Howard Kurtz

The media mogul is pumped over Romney's selection of Paul Ryan. Howard Kurtz on the conservative campaign to drum up support for the divisive congressman.

Getty Images

It would be too much to say that Rupert Murdoch pushed Paul Ryan onto the Republican presidential ticket. But he certainly gave the conservative congressman a strong nudge.The media mogul used a combination of private persuasion, newspaper crusading, and Twitter talk to urge Mitt Romney’s campaign to shake things up.

Double the Pomade

by Robin Givhan

Robin Givhan on the aggressively-groomed style of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.

Win McNamee / Getty Images

Every political campaign relies on visual shorthand and tried-and-true symbolism to help communicate its message. And so, against the backdrop of the retired battleship USS Wisconsin, supporters waited for Mitt Romney to introduce his vice-presidential running mate: U.

Defense Hawks, Rejoice!

by Eli Lake

Romney’s VP pick tilts his ticket closer to the neocons on questions about America’s role in the world.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

With the Republican Party's foreign-policy establishment at odds over central questions on national security, the selection of Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney's choice for vice president tilts the ticket closer to the neoconservatives on key questions about America's role in the world and the size of the military.

A Stunning, Terrible Choice

by Michael Tomasky

So much for Romney making a pick that says something about his own views (whatever they are). Instead, he feared what Bill Kristol might say and buckled under. As always.

T.J. Kirkpatrick

Paul Ryan? Really? It’s a stunning choice. A terrible one too. By making it, Mitt Romney tells America that he is not his own man and hasn’t even the remotest fleeting desire to be his own man. He is owned by the right wing. Did I write a couple of weeks ago that Romney was insecure? Well—Q.

Romney’s Smart Pick

by Rich Galen

Much like Joe Biden lent experience to newbie candidate Obama, Paul Ryan brings fiscal heft to the Romney ticket—he knows the GOP budget plan better than anyone. By Rich Galen

Win McNamee / Getty Images

Mitt Romney's choice of Rep. Paul Ryan to be his running mate will make this election campaign dramatically better. Rather than the grammar-school, nanny-nanny-boo-boo politics we have been subjected to by both sides over the past month or so, now the discussion will immediately turn to Ryan's budget plan.

Ryan's Extreme Abortion Views

by Michelle Goldberg

Mitt's VP pick is a known fiscal conservative, but his social ideology is at least as radical. Michelle Goldberg on Ryan's insinuations that women who choose abortion could be jailed.

Allison Shelley / Getty Images

By now, you surely know, if you didn’t already, that Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s vice-presidential pick, wants to privatize Social Security and turn Medicare into a voucher system. You might have read that, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, his economic plan “calls for radical policy changes that would result in a massive transfer of resources from the broad majority of Americans to the nation’s wealthiest individuals.

The Plutocrat Ticket

by Paul Begala

By choosing Paul Ryan—the guy who wants to slash taxes on the rich and gut the government—Romney shows he’s decided to go nuclear in the class war.

Scott Olson / Getty Images

In selecting Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney has doubled-down on the one thing he has never flip-flopped on: economic elitism. Romney, born to wealth, has selected Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, who was also born to wealth. As the former University of Oklahoma football coach, Barry Switzer, once said of someone else: both these guys were born on third and thought they hit a triple.

Romney’s Bold Gamble

by Matt Latimer

In picking Paul Ryan, Mitt did something he hasn’t done in years—make a big, unexpected decision. Matt Latimer on the risks and rewards to the GOP—and the echoes of Bush 41.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Let’s hope they asked him to spell “potato.” For those either too young to remember or too normal to be obsessed with politics, today is not the first time a wealthy guy with a big family and trouble with “the vision thing” chose as his running mate someone young, telegenic, and conservative in order to please those wacky right wingers he never deigned to understand.

What’s Right and Wrong in the Ryan Plan

by David Frum

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Or as we will now learn to call it, the "Romney plan for a stronger middle class".Paul Ryan is right that the growth in Medicare costs represents a large problem for the future and must sooner or later be dealt with.

Romney's Empathy-Free Veep

by Daniel Gross

Mitt Romney's pick of Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate cements a transformation in his campaign's attitude toward wealth. By Daniel Gross

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Mitt Romney started off this campaign cycle as a noblesse oblige candidate. The son of a rich man, and a rich man in his own right, he faced something of a challenge running as a Republican. Really rich people can win elections in the U.

Mitt Plays to His Right

by Howard Kurtz

The candidate doubles down on conservative ideology by tapping the Wisconsin congressman as his running mate.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Mitt Romney is playing to his right by naming Paul Ryan as his running mate, instantly transforming the election into a debate over the Wisconsin congressman’s divisive budget-slashing plan.Based on a report from NBC confirmed by other news organizations, Romney will introduce the Wisconsin congressman as his vice-presidential pick in Norfolk on Saturday morning.

Don’t Forget About Medicaid

by Harold Pollack

We can’t debate Paul Ryan’s vision for Medicare without also understanding his vision for Medicaid, says Harold Pollack.

Joe Burbank / Getty Images

My brother-in-law Vincent sits with me as I finish this piece. He is intellectually disabled and has been repeatedly hospitalized, most recently last week. As someone who relies on Medicare, he will be deeply affected by the outcome of this election.

Nuns Gun for Paul Ryan

by Abigail Pesta

Sister Simone Campbell, leader of the ‘Nuns on the Bus’ tour, is stepping up her campaign against Mitt Romney’s running mate, targeting his proposed budget plan. Abigail Pesta reports.

J. Scott Applewhite / AP Photos

Sister Simone Campbell says she is on a mission to protect the poor—from Rep. Paul Ryan.This summer, the outspoken Catholic nun led a bus tour across the country called “Nuns on the Bus,” protesting the Wisconsin congressman’s proposed federal budget plan, which she says would slash funds for social programs for low-income people.

Paul Ryan’s Bow-Hunting Bullseye

by Rebecca Dana

Romney may have liked his economic theories. But voters may respond more to his primal sporting pursuits. Rebecca Dana on Ryan’s archery bump.

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In American history, bow hunting has not always been as closely correlated with sex appeal as it is today. Fortunately for Paul Ryan, the swimming-pool-eyed vice-presidential candidate and expert marksman, his sport of choice is basically synonymous with rugged, panting, anti-authoritarian teen virility right now.

Ryan Helps Romney Raise $7.4M

VP pick spurs over 101,000 donations.

Darren Hauck / Getty Images

The money keeps rolling in. The announcement of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) as Mitt Romney’s running mate is proving to be a financial windfall for the GOP presidential hopeful. Campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul announced on Twitter Tuesday that the new Romney–Ryan ticket has already raised $7.

Read it at USA Today

Ryan’s Phony Deficit Plan

by Mike Lofgren

Forget all of the hoopla about deficit reduction, Romney and running mate Paul Ryan’s plan hides their real objective to slash taxes for the rich and push the burden onto the middle class. By Mike Lofgren.

Sara D. Davis / Getty Images

By picking Paul Ryan as his running mate, Mitt Romney has doubled down on a public-relations strategy of phony deficit reduction. Despite what you may have heard to the contrary, Republicans’ caterwauling about deficits and debt is eyewash to gull the public into believing they are serious fiscal stewards.

Ryan Budget Battle Begins

by Patricia Murphy

Republicans say they’re ready for a ‘knife fight’ over the changes to Medicare in their newly anointed vice-presidential nominee’s budget plan. Patricia Murphy on the ripple effect in tight, down-ticket races.

T.J. Kirkpatrick / Getty Images

Even before Mitt Romney tapped Rep. Paul Ryan to be his running mate Saturday, the congressman’s aggressive, often controversial budget plans had made him a lightning rod in congressional races across the country.Now that he’s on the ticket with Romney, Ryan and his trail of budget blueprints will play an outsize role in races down the ballot and across the country.

Is Ryan a Ticking Time Bomb?

by Howard Kurtz

The congressman is getting glowing press, but journalists are just starting to examine his record. Howard Kurtz on the long paper trail that could alienate moderate swing-state voters just getting to know Paul Ryan.

Darren Hauck / Getty Images

We have learned, in the three short days since Paul Ryan was catapulted into the national spotlight, that he skins and butchers animals to make his own Polish sausage (courtesy of The New York Times). That he is “pretty low-maintenance” (as his wife, Janna, tells People).

Romney Just Lost the Jewish Vote

by Peter Beinart

He forfeited any real chance of winning American Jewish voters when he chose Ryan, says Peter Beinart.

Julie Jacobson / AP Photo

Maybe Mitt Romney should have saved the airfare. Sure, July’s Israel trip helped him with his Jewish donors and perhaps with some Christian evangelicals. But if it bought him any good will among Jewish voters, he’s just given it back—and then some—by selecting Rep.

Poll: Ryan Pick Deeply Unpopular

Reaction most negative since Dan Quayle. 

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Will Mitt Romney regret choosing Paul Ryan as his running mate? The announcement that the Wisconsin congressman will join the Republican ticket as vice president garnered one of the least positive reactions in history, a new USA Today/Gallup poll reports.

Read it at Gallup 

Is Ryan the Right Choice?

by Matthew DeLuca

Is bushy-tailed new GOP vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan the right choice for Mitt Romney? The Daily Beast rounds up the best opinions.

Jason E. Miczek / AP Photo

For Ryan1. “The Ryan Choice,” by The Wall Street Journal “In choosing the 42-year-old, Mr. Romney has embraced the GOP’s reform wing and made it more likely that the election debate will be as substantial as America’s current problems,” said The Wall Street Journal’s editorial pages in the wake of Romney’s announcement.

Ryan’s Budget Needs Beef

by Zachary Karabell

Paul Ryan’s addition to the 2012 GOP ticket augurs a more substantive debate on pressing issues, but he has to beef up his budget plan with specifics. For their part, the Democrats must field a viable alternative rather than just attack Ryan’s.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

The addition of Paul Ryan to the Republican ticket for the 2012 presidential election has been hailed by many as a welcome turn in the campaign away from vacuous mudslinging and toward a more substantive debate about pressing issues.

Paul Ryan’s Hard-Body Plan

by Eliza Shapiro

The new GOP vice presidential candidate is just as zealous about zapping body fat as he is about slicing government spending. Eliza Shapiro investigates the extreme workout regimen that Ryan spread to his House colleagues as successfully as he sold his controversial budget.

Tom Williams, CQ Roll Call / Getty Images

New vice presidential hopeful Paul Ryan has been called many things—a dangerous extremist, the future of the Republican Party, a mistake, a risk—but one thing nearly everyone can agree on is that he’s quite serious. That seriousness extends beyond cutting government spending.

Mrs. Ryan Is a Natural

by Eleanor Clift

She may be a new to the national political scene, but Janna Ryan already seems comfortable with the spotlight. Eleanor Clift on the potential second lady’s high-powered first career, family politics, and down-home image.

Saul Loeb, AFP / Getty Images

For a newcomer to the national stage, Janna Christine Little Ryan comes across as remarkably poised and confident, with a winning smile and a fashionably windswept look—in short, what’s known in the business as a natural.And no wonder; politics were in her DNA long before she met and married Rep.

How Would Ryan Affect Women?

by The Daily Beast

American women may already be familiar with the outlines of Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget plan, but how is Mitt Romney’s running mate on other issues? From abortion to Obamacare and Medicaid, how the congressman stacks up.

J. Scott Applewhite / AP Photo

AbortionRep. Paul Ryan is on record saying that he believes life begins at conception. He opposes “partial-birth” abortions and has a 100 percent rating from the National Right to Life Committee. Ryan, a staunch Roman Catholic, also believes abortion should be illegal even in cases of rape and incest.

How Obama Will Cash In on Ryan

by Robert Shrum

Romney’s choice of running mate accelerates the move away from the 2012 election as a straight-line referendum on the economy. Now it is unmistakably and irretrievably a decision about the future, says Robert Shrum.

Getty Images

Never pick a man with a plan—at least not Paul Ryan’s kind of plan.After every quadrennial vice-presidential audition, another cautionary guideline emerges. A spectacular example: post–Sarah Palin, any potential choice will be tested for minimum passable competence in foreign policy.