Paul Ryan is nothing but window dressing. If Romney wins, Paul Ryan will have as much influence on policy as the WH janitor. Mitt Romney invested all that time and money to make sure that Mitt Romney's ideas get enacted.
Ryan was hired to convince his Tea Party buddies in the house to go along with compromise Senate bills so Romney can sign stuff.
Ryan went along with every big spending Bush initiative in GWB first term, including deficit funded entitlement expansion to get Florida for GWB in 2004.
All this rhetoric is just that. If they get elected their daily backtracking will be the story of everyday.
If Romney gets elected I am not going to be caught by surprise due to Republican spin. There was a time when I actually believed Republicans.