I have to go halfway between Ezra and Steve M. Ezra’s main argument is that conservatives would be in a lose-lose situation if Paul Ryan is tapped as Romney’s running mate. If the ticket wins, Ryan is taken out of Congress where he is very influential as the chairman of the Budget Committee, and relegated to the largely ceremonial duties of the vice-presidency. And if the ticket loses, it will be a repudiation of the Ryan Budget and conservatism more generally. So, why would conservatives want Ryan on the ticket?
I think Ezra’s basically right about this part of his observations. But Steve M. objects strongly and convincingly to the idea that Paul Ryan would be blamed for the loss or that conservatives would turn on him.
What the right will say is that Romney/Ryan lost because the evil Satanic liberal media grotesquely distorted the nature of the Ryan budget (by, y’know, quoting accurate numbers and facts), while demonizing Paul Ryan. The right will also say that Mitt Romney was a wussy little RINO. My guess is that most right-wingers will stress the latter (no matter how far to the right Romney actually runs). But the loss will not be blamed on the budget itself. America would have embraced its small-government, pro-freedom wonderfulness if not for the lying lies of the lie-beral media!
Do you recall which member of the 2008 GOP ticket emerged as a right-wing superstar? That’s all you need to know about how blame will be assessed on the right if Romney runs with Ryan and loses.
I think that analysis is unassailable. Ryan would emerge as a more palatable conservative hero than Palin. The loss would be blamed entirely on Romney. And Ryan would be set up to play a sacrificial lamb in 2016 to an untouchable Hillary Clinton or Andrew Cuomo or even Joe Biden. The Democrats have a strong and deep bench. The Republicans have Rick Perry and Herman Cain. If Ryan becomes the running mate, and they lose, he’d be automatically catapulted to the top tier of Republican presidential candidates, along with Jeb Bush.
But Ezra’s right that a Ryan vice-presidency wouldn’t be much of a boon for conservatives, and might even constitute a short-term loss of influence.
