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.
Talk about an unnecessary statement. Maybe there was a time when he was a formidable debater but the ideologue Biden can barely put two coherent sentences together these days. He remains, however a highly reliable gaffe machine, the likes of which is nearly unprecedented in the anals of American politics. Ryan's challenge in a debate will be stepping down his cerebral level to avoid giving the impression he is being condescending to Old Joe.
Okay, he sort of was in the military as a 2nd Lt. reservist with ‘limited’ service due to nearsightedness. Sorry.
This article is a complete ‘hurl’. Ryan is Palin?
Yep. I’m surprised the author didn’t try to inject Katy Couric into this piece.
Oh really, Cooper?
We have Obozo and his goon who never saw the inside of a Greek temple stand in front of styrofoam columns and talk about changing America the way we know it...
What a superficial, small-minded, myopic, biased member of the journolistic community...a**hole.
...After completing fourteen home-study Army Extension Courses, Reagan enlisted in the Army Enlisted Reserve on April 29, 1937, as a private assigned to Troop B, 322nd Cavalry at Des Moines, Iowa. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Officers Reserve Corps of the cavalry on May 25, 1937.
Reagan was ordered to active duty for the first time on April 18, 1942. Due to his nearsightedness, he was classified for limited service only, which excluded him from serving overseas. His first assignment was at the San Francisco Port of Embarkation at Fort Mason, California, as a liaison officer of the Port and Transportation Office. Upon the approval of the Army Air Force (AAF), he applied for a transfer from the cavalry to the AAF on May 15, 1942, and was assigned to AAF Public Relations and subsequently to the First Motion Picture Unit (officially, the “18th Army Air Force Base Unit”) in Culver City, California. On January 14, 1943, he was promoted to first lieutenant and was sent to the Provisional Task Force Show Unit of This Is The Army at Burbank, California. He returned to the First Motion Picture Unit after completing this duty and was promoted to captain on July 22, 1943.
In January 1944, Reagan was ordered to temporary duty in New York City to participate in the opening of the Sixth War Loan Drive. He was re-assigned to the First Motion Picture Unit on November 14, 1944, where he remained until the end of World War II. He was recommended for promotion to major on February 2, 1945, but this recommendation was disapproved on July 17 of that year. While with the First Motion Picture Unit in 1945, he was indirectly involved in discovering actress Marilyn Monroe. He returned to Fort MacArthur, California, where he was separated from active duty on December 9, 1945. By the end of the war, his units had produced some 400 training films for the AAF....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan
“Ryan’s likely to be a very good debater against Joe Biden
Talk about an unnecessary statement. Maybe there was a time when he was a formidable debater but the ideologue Biden can barely put two coherent sentences together these days. He remains, however a highly reliable gaffe machine...”
I’ve had meatloaf with more intelligence than US Sen Joey Bidet (IDIOT-DE). Ryan v Bidet = Lions eat the natives. I hope Ryan is merciless.
Thank you. I stopped reading. These hacks have to write whether they have worthwhile ideas or not
What horse hockey! I'm not taking anything away from Paul Ryan, because he's obviously VERY smart, and I believe a great pick. But this PDS that continually percolates is ridiculous! Sarah Palin had been in politics, albeit local, for many years, and was the Governor of the largest (in land area) state in the US! She was no political neophyte, I just don't think she expected the duplicity from the GOP elites that she received. I'm fully expecting some of those same people to come out against Ryan at some point, because of his strong Catholic faith, and his pro-life views.
That was my first thought, but Ryan could be extremely effective, riding herd on the Republicans in Congress, because he KNOWS them, personally. I think Paul Ryan will be a great asset in the office of the Vice-Presidency.
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