Paul Ryan: P90X + social engineering. (Image by Gage Skidmore.)
- A very poor choice by Mitt Romney. It was clear he was trailing and the gulf was widening, so I can understand the need for a bold stroke (though Americans have yet to vote for the bottom of any Presidential ticket.) But nearly every fear about Romney’s callousness (real or imagined) has been heightened with Ryan by his side, lugging along his magic numbers which soak the poor. Romney gets his stated wish now and becomes a “severe conservative.”
- No matter what happens on planet Earth between now and the election, there’s a clear path to victory for President Obama. (Vote for me and avoid another supply-side juggernaut.) The final jobs reports become almost an afterthought. The onus is no longer on the President, but on Romney-Ryan to explain how their draconian economics wouldn’t devastate our most vulnerable.
- Even though this is largely an election about our economy, it’s pretty much a slam dunk for Team Obama on international issues. The American people largely approve of the way the President has handled things abroad. On the other side, you have essentially no experience or vision. Read every word that has been uttered by Romney and Ryan since the announcement, and see how many times they’ve mentioned the world beyond our borders. Romney no longer has to run for President by running away from himself, but he and Ryan will both have to scramble from their lack of foreign-policy credentials.
- Romney immediately tried to paint Ryan as someone who can work across the aisle and get results. Big mistake. In 13 years, Ryan has accomplished almost nothing of practical value–just two meaningless bills. It would be better for Romney to depict his running mate as a Moynihan-ish big-picture wonk who is light on real-world results because he’s been busy crafting something visionary.
- When I posted a few days ago about people exhibiting self-delusion, I could have easily added Ryan to the mix. He has to be intelligent enough to know that his policies would cause real damage to our most vulnerable. How does he disassociate himself from that and think himself a decent person? If he really believes that his numbers add up, he is a lousy mathematician.
- The GOP can point out that Obama has already taken money from Medicare as Ryan plans to, but taking money from Medicare to provide universal health care is not the same thing as taking money from Medicare to provide Romney with 10,000 more square feet on his new house. That’s the Ryan plan.
- The media has rightly said that the election has now shifted from one of referendum to one of mandate, but just because it’s an ideological contest doesn’t mean post-election America will be any less marked by obstructionism. I don’t see that going away in the near future.
- The biggest non-story of the weekend was how Romney was able to fool everyone and keep his veep pick a secret. Everybody knew about the choice before he made the announcement, so I wouldn’t say that’s accurate. But even if he had kept it completely quiet, who the fuck cares? It changes not one vote, one opinion, moves nothing. Brian Williams, a consummate entertainer, might be interested in this kind of nonsense, but the air time could have been better used.•
Tags: Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan