Re: Paul Ryan, VP

As Chase says, a truly excellent, exellent selection by Mitt Romney. Paul Ryan is the whole package: budgetarily brilliant at a time when our deficits are at the existential crisis level, he also effectively encapsulates  conservative principles in real world policies and ably communicates and defends those principles. He also has that indefinable 'aw shucks' everyman demeanor that at once attracts people to him and blunts the inevitable cartoonish demonization that will pour out of the Left.

All of this bodes well for our prospects this fall, but I am more enthused about our prospects long term. The one thing about Romney that worried me was what kind of legacy his (hopefully) 8 years would leave behind. If his administration persisted in glossing over the differences of the parties, as has been the Republican default mode in power (see e.g. Trent Lott's willingness to share power with Democrats in 2002 when we had a Senate majority), then I foresaw serious problems in 2020 for anyone running conservative. The 'brand' would be enervated in the public mind, and the Dems would have an opening to regain power and reverse any gains we will have made.  

Think I worry too much? Well, you must not have lived through the Bush 41 years when that man managed to deplete the good will and political capital left over from the Reagan years. Let's see, you are the appointed heir to the man and the policies that brought about the biggest single economic expansion in human history and the fall of the the Berlin Wall and the historic collapse of 20th century Communism. Then you prosecute and win the first major war since World War II with the backing of nearly the entire world in a brilliant display of diplomatic prowess. Astonishingly, however, Bush through all these advantages away when he caved to the Democrats braying away in Congress and raised taxes in an infamous betrayal of promises he made in 1988. And to seal his own fate, Bush then crafted a reelection campaign with the theme 'The Education President?' The bold colors of the Reagan years are now the grey and greyer of the Bush years, and an obscure Governor from an obscure state does the typical Democrat two-step (prevarication and demonization) and beats him soundly in 1992.

But, as Doris Day told us, what will be, will be. 

Paul Ryan, VP

It's official, Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Congressman, will be Mitt Romney's Vice-Presidential running mate. A truly excellent, excellent selection. Everyone talks about him as a 'policy wonk,' and he is, but he is much, much more than that. He is the single best articulater and communicator of the ideals and principles his policies embody. To call him dynamic and electric would be to underrate his very special talents.

His selection, however, puts a giant bullseye on Mitt Romney's back: Medicare reform. This is because Paul Ryan proposed (and passed) a budget plan in the House whose centerpiece was Medicare reform. Medicare reform (or Social Security reform) is not called the 3rd Rail of Politics for nothing. Traditionally, any Republican who dared put 'Medicare' and 'reform' in the same sentence was immediately tarred, feathered, and dragged out of town on a rail faster than you can say Hope and Change. Simply put, the CW (Common Wisdom, not the TV network) is that Medicare reform is political death, period. So what should our Republican standard bearers do?

It's amazing that I have to even mention this, but they need only follow one rule: never begin a sentence that includes Medicare without saying a minimum of three times, "We must save Medicare. Save Medicare. Save Medicare."  And never end that sentence without saying again, "We must save Medicare. Save Medicare. Save Medicare." There must be no instance in which any Medicare proposal is mentioned that is not, over and over, put in the context of saving the program.

That's it. So simple, and yet if you look at the debates of the last 20 years on Medicare or Social Security, Republicans have never evinced even a hint that they understand that this is their soft spot. And this, even after the Democrats, without fail, always respond "They are destroying Medicare. Destroying Medicare. Destroying Medicare!" 

In other words, the Democrats get it, the Republicans don't. In my opinion, Medicare and Social Security reform have only been the 3rd rail of politics these many years because of the particular imbecility that only Republicans can exhibit. Let's hope they finally get it this time.