Saturday morning, Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney announced his selection for running mate. After months of experts making predictions and analyzing Romney’s options, the Massachusetts man decided that the right man to stand by his side through Election Day and potentially beyond is Paul Ryan.
Romney was able to keep the decision a secret. Come Saturday morning, few people knew that Ryan was going to be announced as the potential Republican Vice President. Romney initially announced his decision via social media. He did so through a smartphone application and his Twitter account. An hour and a half later on Saturday, Romney came out himself to make the announcement in person.
With all of the excitement surrounding the Presidential Election and Mitt Romney’s campaign, his Republican followers were elated to hear the announcement. But there were many asking one question: Who is Paul Ryan?
Who is Paul Ryan?
Ryan is a 42-year-old from Wisconsin. Born in Janesville, Wisconsin, Ryan has been the House of Representative member from the 1st District of Wisconsin since 1999. Ryan has been highly involved in politics and the Republican Party since his graduation from college.
Ryan is also the current chairman of the House Budget Committee and has held that role since early January of last year. In addition, on a positive note to Republicans, Ryan is undefeated in all of his elections.
Ryan is a true Republican
Ryan is a strong supporter of many current Republican ideals. For instance, Ryan has introduced budget proposals that would eliminate Medicare and privatize Social Security sertraline anxiety. Both of those ideas are radically conservative and do not stand to appeal to anyone from the left and few from the middle.
Ryan’s plans have received great support from most Republicans in Congress and no Democrats. Most Democrats criticized Ryan’s plans for not accounting for the money lost from lowering tax rates as much as Ryan wanted. Ryan did have supporters who said that the changes in health care would save more money for the government than reduced tax rates would lose.
In all, Ryan is the exact man Republicans want to see on the bill. He is not too radical and irrational like Sarah Palin. He is not a moderate with some liberal views. Ryan is what today is considered a true Republican and a true conservative. But this brings us to another question.
Is Ryan the right choice?
There are three answers to this: yes, no, and it does not matter.
Being that Ryan is a true Republican, voters on the right must be very pleased to see a Vice Presidential candidate who falls in line with their views and is going to compliment Romney very well.
However, because Ryan is so fitting with the Republican image of the typical candidate, it might not win Romney any new votes. Had Romney chosen Condoleezza Rice, he would have been able to attract more of the minority vote and possibly increased his current support level from women. Obama is currently projected to win the election in November and with Ryan as a running mate, Romney does not increase his chances to find more votes from the middle.
But then again, studies show that few voters, if any, change their vote based on who the Vice Presidential candidates are. The number of minority votes a minority candidate would bring in or the number of female votes a candidate who appeals to women might bring in is often minimal due to the fact that most, if not all, voters keep their focus on the Presidential nominee and not the person standing next to them.
November
The impact of Ryan on what happens in November is already being felt. He is being dissected throughout the media. Many are already pointing out his votes against equal pay for women and his lack of support for health care. And it is fair to expect a debate or two between Ryan and Obama’s running mate, Joe Biden.
The campaign trail has begun for both party’s and both are running with full force. In the next few months, we are going to see a lot of good points, negative attacks, and a huge fight for the votes in the middle. At the end of the day, this is a battle between Obama and Romney, Democrats and Republicans.
Leave a Reply