Posted on 05/14/2008 4:04:43 PM PDT by SJackson
Janesville Congressman Paul Ryan continues to attract serious attention as a prospective Republican nominee for vice president. And rightly so.
One need not agree with Ryan's sincere-if-frequently-myopic conservatism to recognize the strengths he would bring to John McCain's ticket.
Where McCain is ancient -- older than Ronald Reagan or Dwight Eisenhower when they attained the presidency -- and looks it, Ryan is so fresh-faced, upbeat and energetic that he sometimes seems a good deal younger than his 38 years.
At that age, the Wisconsin Republican is almost young enough to be not McCain's son but the Arizona senator's grandson.
Yet Ryan is, by most reasonable measures, more experienced than McCain when it comes to dealing with domestic economic, tax and budget issues.
While the presumptive presidential nominee has freely admitted that he has little knowledge of -- or interest in -- fiscal affairs, Ryan knows his way around the balance sheets better than just about any Republican in the Capitol. As a key player for the better part of a decade in budget debates, he was a heavy-lifting member of the House Ways and Means Committee when Republicans were in charge of the chamber. And the congressman is still taken seriously now that the Democrats are in charge.
Ryan is not bragging when he explains that "where my aptitude is is in the area of economics."
The Wisconsinite's serious focus on budget fundamentals is not the only thing that inspires confidence among his fellow Republicans.
Where McCain is a maverick who conservatives suspect of being soft, Ryan's hard to the right on every issue -- so steady in his social and economic conservatism that he makes Ronald Reagan look like a wavering ideologue.
Yet, while McCain's got a mean streak that even his carefully choreographed campaign cannot hide, Ryan is a charmer. Raised Wisconsin-nice, he does not allow partisan or ideological differences to turn personal -- so much so that he once showed up at a Madison fundraising event for his former colleague and friend Tom Barrett, who was running for the Democratic nomination for governor at the time and eventually became mayor of Milwaukee.
That's not the end of what makes Ryan an attractive ticket mate for McCain. As U.S. Rep. Phil Ensign, who serves with the Wisconsin congressman on the Ways and Means Committee, says, "Paul is Catholic, from the Rust Belt, and has the economic credentials Sen. McCain needs."
As John Gizzi, the authoritative political writer for the conservative publication Human Events -- Reagan's favorite ideological journal -- notes, Ensign's sentiments are not isolated. "Other Republican back benchers agree, and talk of Ryan-for-veep mushrooms in the House GOP conference," argues Gizzi.
Does this mean that Ryan's likely to end up as McCain's running mate?
The Wisconsinite remains a long shot.
Despite his freewheeling reputation, McCain is actually an exceptionally cautious, old-school player -- more a Bob Dole than a Newt Gingrich. He's not inclined toward out-of-the-box thinking. And Ryan -- an unknown outside Wisconsin and a few blocks from Capitol Hill in Washington -- would require the sort of leap that might be beyond McCain's skill set.
Yet the prospect of balancing a 2008 GOP ticket led by one of the oldest and crankiest presidential contenders in the history of the republic with an attractive and experienced 30-something congressman from a swing state is hardly a radical one. In fact, it makes sufficient sense that wise Democrats will be hoping that this whole notion of forging a McCain-Ryan ticket remains a conservative pipe dream.
hope the man gets some serious traction - god knows we need the help
I think McCain will be better than GWB in the foreign arena. More like GWB in the early days, with us or against us, but I think he’ll mean it. Unlike Gore, you won’t be getting a BTU tax, in fact I don’t think you’ll be getting higher taxes at all. Not familiar enough with his global warming conversion to have an opinion, but if he’s talking market based solutions based on less reliance on foreign oil, I’m for that part. And Gore was/is tax based. I believe McCain when he says he’ll enforce border security. You’re getting amnesty, best conservatives can do now is press for terms. Perhaps no citizenship path. With Obama, the borders stay open, and he’s on record supporting medicaid, education, disability and social security for illegals. That issue has been settled. In case you missed it, most of the anti-amnesty folk didn’t show up and vote, and when you come down to it, that’s how these issues are decided.
bump!
I didn't say you were wasting your vote, nor did I say if you don't vote for McCain you're a liberal, as you correctly quoted, I said if you look at McCain, and you look at Obama, and can't decide which would be better for the nation, it's best you stay home. Or vote for a non-entity."
And I mean it. If you can't decide, it's better to stay home than pull a random lever, and if you're non-entity, so be it. If you think that's going to move the GOP to the right, I think you're wrong. But time will tell.
“...but [Ryan]’d better be an exemplary speller and public speaker, if he’s to be on the ticket.”
He is. And as good looking as John Kennedy, to boot. He, and a handful that I can name, are the LAST true Conservatives holding elected office in Wisconsin. :)
I agree. People here want to give repubs what they haven’t earned.
Bet they don’t do that with their own kids.
I agree. People here want to give repubs what they haven’t earned.
Bet they don’t do that with their own kids.
No, you didn't, but it is a common expression of the McCain supporters and I was more or less compiling all of the common statements in with yours so that my response could cover as many bases as possible. As I'm sure you realize, others will read this thread and know what I'm talking about.
McCain might very well be better than Obama, but that still doesn't make him good enough. And I mean it.
Thank you for your response.
As a House member would his seat be in jeopardy if he attempted to defend it while on the national ticket? That might explain Nichols support. VP candidate and out.
If you have conservatives on the ballot down ticket where you are, please show up and vote for them.
If the wife is white, she looks it, it wont fly in the black community. Not that we have many of those votes anyhow.
That is exactly what I intend to do and have encouraged others to do so as well. I do believe that we have a duty to participate ... I just don't believe that when presented with bad choices that I have a duty to make a bad choice.
Good thinking. Frankly, I don’t know. Ryan represents a pretty solid Republican base; I don’t think it would be lost.
I’d like to know why none of the three running for President right now has had to give up their Senate seat. That annoys me to no end.
Jindal is an excellent conservative and a very good man. I was a member of his grassroots campaign team and have spoken with him several times and he never ceases to impress. However, we are really counting on him to move Louisiana along and it is my sincere hope that he will dance with us for awhile. It would be heartbreaking for him to join a ticket with McCain, and I have sent those thoughts in the form of an email message to his office.
None of them are up for election. Or showing up for many votes. It’s a lot tougher for a House member.
OTOH, being a mutt hasn't derailed the B.Hussein insanity train.
(interesting tag, btw)
If the drive-by media isn’t able to do the Dan Quayle treatment on him, he could be a good choice.”
If George Washington or Jesus Christ or Ghandi was raised from the dead and made the Republican VP choice, the media would do the Dan Quayle treatment on any one of them.
“As to rewarding the GOP for moving left, your contension is that by staying home and aiding in the election of a Marxist, the GOP will look to the non-voters on the right next election, rather than those in the middle who actually show up on election day. And that the damage to the nation will be well worth it because in 4 or 8 years we’ll elect .....
Hmmmmm. “
It’s beyond hmmmm. It’s the most insane idea for winning something since Pickett’s Charge.
“No, you didn’t, but it is a common expression of the McCain supporters and I was more or less compiling all of the common statements in with yours so that my response could cover as many bases as possible. As I’m sure you realize, others will read this thread and know what I’m talking about.”
Why waste your effort getting the most liberal Senator Obama elected? The guy is a radical extremist who is divisive and wrong on every issue. Why waste energy bashing Mccain and/or bashing those who decided they’d rather have a moderate-to-conservative President who will win in Iraq instead of a socialist liberal who will lose in Iraq?
“McCain might very well be better than Obama”
That’s not a ‘might’. Isn’t it indisputable that McCain is much much better on a number of issues than Obama?
Then why pretend it might be arguable? It isn’t!
I don’t care how old he is or what he looks like. I hope that I at least get to see the age he is at now. What I do care about are his policy positions, and I don’t find those to be acceptable.
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