A Time For Choosing: First Thoughts On Paul Ryan

Governor Mitt Romney has chosen Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin to be his running mate. Here's his acceptance speech:





Was it a good choice?

With one possible reservation, I think so.

There are those who call it a desperation pick from a position of weakness. I think nothing could be further than the truth, although time will tell.

In Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney has chosen someone who appeals to independents, Tea Party conservatives, most elements of the GOP as a whole, and yes, even to a number of Democrats. He's a seven term congressman in a decidedly Democrat district in Wisconsin whose lowest share of the vote was 57 percent, in his first election. He normally gets 60 per cent or more of the vote. President Obama carried Ryan’s district by four points in 2008..while in the same election, Paul Ryan won reelection with 65 percent of the vote, with one in five Obama voters also voting for him. He's popular in his home state, and could make the difference in carrying Wisconsin.

He's a decent stump speaker, and people react to his intelligence, his honesty and his essential decency quite naturally. He not only knows what he's talking about, he has the ability to communicate his ideas in a persuasive and appealing way. He's going to appeal to a lot of voters. As Chairman of the House Budget Committee, he's shown a readiness to tackle tough problems with innovative solutions. He's been a leader in Congress and one of a number of people who understands we're at a threshold moment in America, and that continuing to travel the path we've been traveling will lead to misery.Plus, he'll be a major asset in getting Romney's agenda through Congress.

My one reservation on Paul Ryan is how effective he's going to be in the normal role of campaign attack dog.

The Democrats will make much of the Ryan Budget with its proposed Medicare reforms and run the usual ads showing an actor pushing granny off the cliff. But they would have done that regardless, and in fact have already begun to try to scare seniors.

The accusation is ludicrous coming from people who gutted Medicare of half a trillion dollars to help pay for ObamaCare, a program that rations cancer drugs, includes 'independent medical advisory boards' to ration care to seniors and kills the Medicare Advantage program over 12 million seniors rely on.

It also ignores the fact that there will be no changes to anyone already in the program, and the fact that unless reforms are made, the entire program will collapse. Here's a great clip of Ryan schooling a clueless President Obama in these realities:



Don't be surprised if the Democrats don't agree to a vice presidential debate this time out.

Anyone Governor Romney picked was going to be subjected to the most intense attacks by the Obama campaign and their media lackeys to destroy them not only politically, but personally, and Ryan was no exception. But the speed with which the Soros media empire and the left leaped in to attempt to Palinize someone whom is essentially an honest, intelligent and principled public servant was not only disgusting but a clear example of how morally bankrupt they really are.

This election represents a choice, and having Paul Ryan on the ticket emphasizes it.It was a bold pick for Mitt Romney to make.

It is a choice between getting our house in order or becoming Greece, with all that implies. It is a choice between electing two competent and experienced public servants, or leaving the country in the hands of a failed ideology put into play by a corrupt Chicago-style gang of looters and wreckers.

It is a choice between, as Paul Ryan said, re-applying our Founder's principles or choosing four more years of the same..if the fiction even lasts that long.

It is a choice of two entirely different futures for America.