Good PR
There's talk of Paul Ryan running for President. He should be announcing his decision soon, and I think it'll be no. It takes a lot to run for Prez and he's got other things on his mind. Besides, at 41, there'll be plenty of other elections.
My guess is Obama would love to run against him. Ryan may be an impressive candidate in many ways, but he's also part of Congress--the only thing less popular right now than the President. It would allow Obama to say "you may not always love what I've done, but here's the guy who really screwed up everything." Plus he'll claim Ryan wants to steal your money by gutting social programs.
Obama will do this no matter who he runs against, of course, but it's a lot easier to do it to a representative than a governor.
posted by LAGuy @ 12:14 AM
3 Comments:
Well each of the Republicans have got things Obama can attack. Ryan coming into the race would not help himself (in the immediate election) but could help the party by bringing strong credentials (he's a cutter) plus a willingness to make deals to get things done- he might make the others tone down the ideological purity of their screeds. Romney could play this role but it running scared from it. Santorum (the senator not the ick) tried to play this role on economic issues but he's marginal and suffers from rigidity on social issues (Mr. "man on dog").
I agree Ryan probably won't run. Would probably damage himself too much in the short run.
Ryan being a "cutter" is his biggest weakness. People may say they want cutting in general, but anyone who puts forth any real cuts (not that Ryan has done anything more than suggest the slightest cuts) can be demagogued against successfully. In fact, the entire Dem strategy in 2012 makes Ryan the poster boy for the damage the Republicans are doing.
Ryan running would indirectly help all the other Republican candidates. Ever since the Ryan Plan was released, the Democrats have treated it as the Republican Plan for purposes of rhetoric... and many Republicans have felt they have to vocally support it.
But if Ryan were actually running, that assumption would go away. "Do you support the Ryan Plan?" would no longer be a "gotcha" question in a debate. All the Republicans would now be able to say "I agree with many of its ideas, but my own plan -- which I will release soon -- has many differences as well."
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