The Congressman from Wisconsin shines in hearings and at rallies for the GOP faithful. But what was he thinking last night?
This was a clear case of political malpractice from Ryan's debate prep team. The Wall Street Journal, an institution about as friendly to Ryan as it gets, recapped the candidates' messages with this:
[Biden:] "Stop talking about how you care about people. Show me something. Show me a policy."
[Ryan:] "There aren't enough rich people and small businesses to tax to pay for all their spending."
Is the Congressman right? Sure, but being a salesman isn't about being right. It's about closing the deal. Bill Clinton knows this as well as anyone. You can be right on facts all day, but it doesn't matter if you don't let people know how policies personally affect them and their loved ones. That's what Biden did better, and it's something Ryan will have to learn to understand.
And goodness sakes, prep people, when unemployment hovers around 8%, we retain millions of uninsured, and the the middle class faces long term stagnation, nitpicking tax policy in front of millions of concerned Americans isn't a winning sales pitch.