If its really Paul Ryan…well, this means several things:
1) it means Multiple Choice Mitt is in serious fecal arrears with his base, and needs the poster child for the Serious Austerity Right to shore up the faithful.
2) it means a hell of a lot of hue and cry over a budget that apparently enjoys approval ratings similar to herpes…which get worse after people analyze it. It also means that the Ryan Budget will get serious national attention, and they may not be glad it did.
3) it’s a bet – a HUGE bet – that they can buy off baby boomers and get away with shafting everyone under 55. As someone who just broke 40 myself, I’m not exactly thrilled with the idea that I now have to start saving for my own basic health insurance on top of my own retirement – essentially it’s the “ROOT HOG OR DIE” approach to retirement for everyone born after the Eisenhower administration. In other words, a reversion to pre-New Deal ideas of growing old in a world where life expectancy has grown by twenty years or so.
Romney is already in trouble – the Reid-led attacks on his taxes have found the mark and Team Obama is firing for effect. As a rule, when you’re complaining about the fairness of the attacks against you and asking for a truce – of any kind – you’re losing. And with the economy showing signs of life which could improve by November, it’s rapidly beginning to look like this election may turn into a referendum on the future of Social Security and Medicare. And a lot of the country may react negatively to securing the future of the original Me Generation at their own expense.
Besides, Nixon was right: a VP cannot help you, he can only hurt you (and not to be utterly sexist, but She – so far – ruins you). If you’re relying on a VP pick to save your campaign, you’ve lost already. The rest is just scoreboard.