Posted on 08/11/2012 3:15:33 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
My colleague Jack Farrell made a good point that the Ryan pick has some echoes of the successful Clinton-Gore ticket of 1992.
There's a lot to be said for that. The Romney-Ryan ticket is energizing to the GOP base, like it was for Democrats in '92. Clinton and Gore were about the same age, but that's not true here; Ryan is Tagg Romney's age. But the father-and-son imagery kind of worked in Norfolk although with neither man being a veteran, their appearance on a decommissioned battleship seemed ... odd.
Ryan has his selling points. He dominates in a swing district that went for Obama in 2008. Ryan's likely to be a very good debater against Joe Biden, which will be a far more important moment than a Saturday morning in August. But there are also echoes of less successful tickets: Dole-Kemp 1996 and McCain-Palin 2008.
It's hard to remember now, but the late Jack Kemp was the Paul Ryan of his day--a House member who was considered intellectual, idea-driven and the smartest voice in the party. Kemp's focus was more on the poor than on deficits, which he was less worried about debt than your average Republican. And by the time he had reached the vice presidential nomination, he'd already been secretary of Housing and Urban Development and had a good run in the NFL. He was a more august figure than Ryan. But coming from his swing district in Buffalo, Kemp was seen, like Ryan, as someone who could make the case to Democrats and independents. Like Ryan, he was quite charming and well liked.
The cautionary lesson for Romney is that Kemp wound up adding little to the Dole ticket. He didn't shine in the debates and he didn't sway voters. There are, of course, big differences between then and now. Romney is in a much stronger position than Dole. Obama is in a weaker position than Clinton. Still, the important thing is that putting a GOP ideas man on the ticket didn't help that much.
The analogy to Palin is more tenuous but important. Obviously, Ryan brings a level of government experience and policy command that's the very opposite of Palin's.
The similarity is that Palin became the center of the ticket, and we don't know yet if Ryan will be able to recede into the background. I'm not sure the Democrats will let that happen. They'll be happy to point to the Ryan plan's lowering rates for the wealthier earners as well as fundamentally transorming Medicare--at least in its first iteration. If we're talking about the Ryan plan in October, we'll know there's been a Palin-like shift in gravity. Maybe that can work to Romney's benefit. Lyndon Johnson was a big presence on the 1960 ticket to JFK's benefit. Nixon '52 couldn't overshadow Ike, but he was the young turk of his day and it didn't help, Checkers aside.
There are other potential downsides: Ryan is a creature of Congress, even as he distinguished himself in that body. Now Romney is bound to the wildly disliked legislature. You can't triangulate when you're tethered. And for better or worse, they're tethered now.
How could one possibly add to the Dole ticket? How could one possibly add to the Romney ticket? {Yawn}
We conservatives lost decades ago, many of us haven't come to grips with that.
Matthew Cooper, what in the Hell are your talking about?
Just two brief points.
1. Lets compare and contrast (for historical purposes) on how Team Romney treats Ryan compared to how Team McCain treated Palin. There will be no Wallace or Schmitt so that’s a good start. Any this backbiting by some who still want to kick Palin to curb has got to stop...those are the ones that need to shut up.
2. Ryan was at the DC premier of HBO’s “Game Change”. Hope no one tries to zing him on that one. I guess he has a good explanation such as great snacks and fine cocktails.
http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/washingtons-glitzy-debut-of-game-change_b67213
Spotted in the crowd…
Guests were a mix of media such as Politico‘s Executive Jim VandeHei and his nicer half (just joking) wife, Autumn, Patrick Gavin, Kim Kingsley and Mike Allen. We spotted NYT‘s Mark Leibovich, NBC’s Luke Russert, WaPo’s Ed O’Keefe and Jonathan Capehart. Others: CNN’s Dana Bash (who appeared as herself in the movie), as did her colleague Gloria Borger, Bloomberg’s Margaret Carlson, The Daily Caller’s Nick Ballasy, GOP Consultant Kevin Madden, and GOP media consultant Ron Bonjean and wife, Sara (a.k.a. the party hoppers), The Hill‘s Emily Goodin, publicist Courtney Cohen, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) Washington Examiner‘s Nikki Schwab, Roll Call‘s Warren Rojas, and publicist/Hollywood on the Potomac blogger Janet Donovan. Both US Weekly and People had reporters and/or camera people on hand. There were also German, Chinese and Japanese TV stations.
They are just flailing at Ryan, hoping to land some random punches.
The age difference is more like Bush-Quayle with a similar twenty-three year gap, but no one would mistake Quayle and Ryan or Gov Romney with ex-CIA director and VP Bush.
Only one thang matters, Romney-Ryan are not Obama-Biden.
Exactly! Have to get rid of Obama, that is my priority. He is a disaster for this country. November can’t come soon enough
Plugging people into mathematical equations is pointless. This article is a complete ‘hurl’. Ryan is Palin? No, and Palin is no Ryan. What would this author say about Reagan? No military service? The military LOVED Reagan. Just an actor? He brought down the USSR.
Dear GOD these people are SUCH fools. Does this intellect actually believe ordinary voters think in terms of triangulating Kemp, Dole, Gore, Clinton and what each tiny nuance means? (I guess that’s quadulating, not tri...)
What I saw today, for the first time in YEARS was optimism about my country..I think these two guys actually BELIEVE we can overcome our national nightmare.
This is an awful pick. Ryan could never be more effective than where he is now. Romney takes a true conservative out of a position of power and sends him to foreign funerals for the next four years. Once again the conservatives get screwed!
The candidates are producing do-gooders on one side and ne'er do anything important...'cept get elected POTUS on the other side.
No it didn't. WTH? I thought it was a great venue and they showed great respect to our troops.
A real disadvantage when running against a career east coast senator and a junior senator from chicago with the most left wing voting record in history of the US congress.
sarcasm off
That is, unless the RINOs join the democrats in the eminent pile on effectively destroying the guy, as they typically do.
Captain Ronald Reagan, USAAF.
It is practically impossible to get any admitted leftist to seriously talk about the role of government. They are under the illusion that all the average person thinks about is what they can get from government. Like Thomas Frank (What's The Matter With Kansas?), they can't understand why average people don't want the government to do everything for them. They're genetically unable to consider the proper constitutional role of elected officials. This dimwit is no different.
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