Posted on 08/12/2012 1:36:07 PM PDT by neverdem
Republican ticket will force the real issues onto the table
Mitt Romney’s choice of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate is a boldly clarifying jolt for a presidential contest whose issues and stakes have been in desperate need of definition.
Chairman of the House Budget Committee, Ryan has been the architect of low tax, and lower spending, proposals that the Republicans advocate as catalysts for economic revival and American prosperity in the long run. He is also an able proponent of the view that overly large government has become a smothering weight on the country.
By tapping the Tea Party’s keeper of the flame, Romney certified that he is running on a philosophy far different from that of his father’s GOP and even from that put into practice by the party of former President George W. Bush. He has beneficially centered the debate on the proper balance to be struck between the role of Washington and the dynamism of the people.
The time is now for this crucial conversation — now, when too many millions are unemployed; now, when the United States’ economy shows precious few signs of coming to life; now, when the costs of government are unsustainable and future expenses, including for health care and retirement, augur severe decline.
Clearly, Romney judged that the 42-year-old Ryan has both the policy chops and the personality to help make the race against President Obama about the big ideas that demand discussion rather than about the likability of the two contenders or about whether private-sector success suggests a lack of fitness to serve.
While Obama has described the election as a fundamental clash, the parlous state of the nation has driven him to play small ball with negative ads, off-the-charts innuendo about Romney and a misleading drumbeat that salvation can be had by taxing the rich.
Message: Romney would be worse.
The Republicans have watched Obama’s largely unanswered drive to define Romney with frustration. No more. Romney set the terms of the race he intends to run by deciding against conservative Republicans who have been less vocal than Ryan and would not have entered the fray as quite the lightning rod he is.
A gamble Ryan is, for sure.
He has advanced plans for addressing the country’s deficits and debt that would necessarily entail tough spending cuts, and he was early to call for reshaping Medicare by raising the eligibility age and giving future senior citizens the ability to purchase health insurance privately with government funds.
While Romney has broached versions of all those politically charged plans, Ryan has come to personify the ideas to partisans on both the left and the right.
They’ll stay in their polarized camps, as they would have no matter whom Romney had invited onto the team. Based on Ryan’s past performance, what Romney stands to gain is a partner who can both energize the Republican base and present the GOP platform to undecideds in the critical swing states in especially clear terms.
His middle-class roots and upbeat disposition should be helpful counterpoints to Romney’s wealth and formality.
In naming Ryan, Romney said they would campaign to restore “American aspirations and American ideals,” and Ryan declared, “We will restore the dreams and greatness of this country.” He said of Obama: “Whatever the explanations, whatever the excuses, this is a record of failure.”
James Messina, spokesman for the Obama campaign, responded: “As a member of Congress, Ryan rubber-stamped the reckless Bush economic policies that exploded our deficit and crashed our economy. Now, the Romney-Ryan ticket would take us back by repeating the same, catastrophic mistakes.”
The battle that must be fought has been joined.
What I like about Ryan is that he hits hard on the
“grow the economy” philosophy. Far too many Republicans
allow the opposition to ask the asinine question
“How are we going to pay for a tax cut for the rich?”
as if improving the economy has no effect on increasing
revenues.
Mort Zuckerman runs the Daily News.
He loved Obama for about 18 months but he came out of his stupor.
He’ll endorse Romney.
The soviet dimrats and their media HATE this man.
nuff said.
Thanks for the link.
This is an adult election. No SNL pop culture. No distractions. Just public policy.
“Democracy guarantees that the people will get the government they deserve.”
—Thomas Jefferson
It’s a public referundum on whether our fellow citizens want a central planning, crony capitalist rent seeking welfare state for Obama’s rich donors in green, quasi green ethanol energy and every other lobbyist feeding at ...oh whatever...I’m done being angry.
At least the battle lines are clear. End up like Greece, CA, GM or be an adult with a budget.
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