This is just a hunch I'm playing here, but I am guessing that yesterday's decision makes it somewhat more likely that Romney gives serious consideration to and maybe even picks as his veep Paul Ryan.
Why? The decision means the campaign is going to become even more of a crusade against "liberal tyranny" than it might have been. If the law had been struck down, Romney would have gone with the easy "Obama wasted the American people's time" argument. But now he has to, or feels he has to--in any case, he will--make the much more direct argument that the law is a disaster for America.
That means, to me, a vice president who is a warrior on these issues. What's a vice presidential nominee's #1 task, after all? Attack dog. Wouldn't the winger base love to see Ryan out there trashing Obamacare? And what on earth does Rob Portman have to say about it? And Bobby Jindhal? Please. He just said "Obamneycare" on the teevee today. And anyway, isn't he eligible to stay on his parents' coverage? (nyuk nyuk)
I predict a rising clamor for Ryan. It may have started, for all I know. Of course, in writing this, I'm pimping for it. I think it'd be great, because then Romney is completely tied to Ryan's budget. Mittens is gonna attack the ACA for cutting Medicare with Paul Ryan standing at his side? The answer is yes, he would certainly try to, but it would just be a joke. The right wing would love the choice, Mark Halperin would undoubtedly bless it, and then, on the morning of November 7, Politico would report that "to the surprise of nearly everyone, exit polls suggest that Paul Ryan was a sight drag on the losing GOP ticket."
