Veepstakes: Rep. Paul Ryan being vetted by Romney campaign

Via NRO’s Robert Costa:

I’m reliably informed that Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the Budget Committee chairman, has submitted paperwork to the Romney campaign. Sources confirm that he is being vetted for the vice-presidential nomination.

Ryan, one of the GOP’s brightest young stars, is clearly a favorite of Romney allies. But some top Republican officials are wary of plucking him from the House, where he is the party’s most influential voice on fiscal issues.

I’ve got mixed feelings about Ryan being picked as Romney’s veep, for the same reason mentioned above. But the guy is as sharp as a tack, is extremely well-versed in policy matters … with room to grow, would be great in the “pit bull” attack role veep nominees usually assume, and would shred Biden in a debate.

Thoughts?

6 Responses to "Veepstakes: Rep. Paul Ryan being vetted by Romney campaign"

Phineas says:

June 23, 2012 at 4:41 pm

Ryan would make a fantastic VP and, someday, president in his own right. He’s one of several people I’d be happy to see in the office.

That said, for now I’d much rather he stay in the House, riding herd over the budget and other fiscal matters — we need him there.

Ideal: Romney picks a sharp, conservative policy wonk (Jindal, for example) as VP, then tasks that person with working with Ryan in the House and Wyden in the Senate for that bipartisan touch to fix our entitlements mess. We’d have the problem solved within two years.
Carlos says:

June 23, 2012 at 5:58 pm

Actually, it’s a win-win for the Repubs, as I see it.

If Ryan is chosen, and there is a conservative tsunami in the House, losing Ryan to the VP position wouldn’t be too bad because the new conservative House members could push their weight around more than normal (Boehner, are you listening, or are you still tone deaf?).

If he is not chosen, but Romney does the smart thing and chooses a policy wonk like Jindal, we still have Ryan to run things in the House.

Assuming, of course, that if Romney wins the Repubs retain a strong majority in the House.

The Senate, on the other hand, is a whole other can of worms, with Reid the chief worm. In order to make a Romney presidency work the Senate MUST be turned to not only a Republican majority, but a strong one at that, and that’s where the worm (Reid) turns. The best thing about that is, if the Repubs should also take the Senate, you can bet your neighbor’s farm that most of the new members will lean solidly conservative, which should also get McConnell’s attention.
Drew the Infidel says:

June 23, 2012 at 7:23 pm

@Phineas–I am in total agreement. This is what I was referring to in an earlier post when I said it was like assembling a football team; plug the players in where their talents do the most good for the total team effort.
Tex says:

June 23, 2012 at 9:40 pm

Frankly the VP position is a waste of good talent when they can be better utilized elsewhere. Better keep the heavy gunners in positions where they can do the most good, like the Senate or House. Jindal is a good choice since he’s still governor of Louisiana and not yet a power broker in his own right yet. So plucking him from that position and putting him in the VP seat would not detract from overall Republican effectiveness at the federal level.
Iva Biggin says:

June 24, 2012 at 8:30 am

Don’t really care much… just as long as it isn’t Rubio or Christie. We’d wind up with either two soul-mates pushing the dream act (Romney-Rubio) or pushing Jersey/Mass style gun control (Romney/Christie). Either ticket would be a “might as well stay home” situation for me. It’s already bad enough that we are stuck with obama lite as “our” candidate.
Drew the Infidel says:

June 24, 2012 at 11:16 am

@Iva Biggin–I have been secretly hoping the potential Obhammud voters would adopt the “not a dime’s worth of difference so why bother?” approach assuring Romney’s victory.

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