Just under two days after my last post, in which I criticized the shallow nature of the 2012 Presidential election, Mitt Romney gave us all something-- or someone-- to talk about. His name is Paul Ryan, the fiscal conservative from Wisconsin who has recently "captured the G.O.P." according to an article by the New Yorker .
To me, Romney's decision to select Paul Ryan as his running mate was very smart. The VP's job during the election is to rally the base of the party and to promote the message of the candidate. I believe that Ryan will be able to effectively complete those tasks. He is a thoroughbred conservative with a voting record to back that up. Moreover, Ryan has earned an enormous amount of credibility among conservatives for his detailed counterproposals to Obama's budgets and plans. Ryan's credibility extends from inside the Chambers of Congress to the halls of conservative think-tanks like the Heritage Foundation and the CATO Institute. As Romney has struggled to gain widespread support from the conservative community, his Vice President has become the poster child for post-Bush conservatism. This will be a major selling point as the election draws closer.
Paul Ryan also possesses another important attribute: Washington experience. Romney's message has consistently focused on his business experience and his ability to lead. Ryan offers the Romney campaign a sense of political savvy, grounded in ideology and supported by proposals.
However, I believe that Paul Ryan will bring an entirely new wave of attention (and criticism) to the Romney campaign. A wave that the Republican hopeful has yet to encounter. As I said in my previous article, Romney has spent the past few months engaged in a back and forth game of point the finger with Obama. This has been very beneficial to his standing the in polls. As one of my reader's pointed out, Obama still has a lead in the most recent polls and this could be credited to his Bain Capital attack ads. That's fine. But Obama has watched his mountain of support wane since his election in 2008 as Romney has slowly but steadily moved into contention without offering any specific proposals, plans, contracts, blueprints, or instructions for his supporters or critics to evaluate. This election has be called one of the most polarized in history. And without any method or mechanism to evaluate either candidate, this is to be expected.
Nevertheless, as we move closer to November 6, I can safely say the conversation will transform into a classic battle of conservative and liberal visions of this country. Paul Ryan has had no problem touting his belief in "personal responsibility" and fiscal discipline. Romney has. Paul Ryan has had no problem offering counterproposals to the Obama administration, even if they appear to be radical. Romney has. As Romney approaches the final months of the election season, he has a lot of political, economic and foreign policy to explain and promote. This time, we will not be asking about his dog.
I enjoyed reading this article, Mr. Parrish, thinking I was seeing you look across the aisle and say something positive-- that's something we don't see enough of these days-- until of course the second to last paragraph when it became abundantly clear you were not doing that. I was hoping you might be able to flesh out a few points though. First, "Romney has spent the past few months engaged in a back and forth game of point the finger with Obama," you said-- this is an election against an incumbent, what do you want them to do? The way you word that statement it is obviously an indictment of Romney's campaign strategy with as little blame as possible towards Obama. Also, along that same line, "without any method or mechanism to evaluate either candidate?" I don't seem to understand. One of them has been the President of the United States for the past three and a half years. Do you want numbers? How about unemployment, economic growth, jobless claims, approval rating? Do you want qualitative information? Major bills through congress-- that is, major bills that the American public actually wants (they call it public service for a reason!)? I would imagine most readers have a small issue with no "method or mechanism to evaluate either candidate," Mr. Parrish.
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