Even senior Bush strategists admit that Paul Ryan’s convention speech was completely dishonest. Here’s what I don’t get. Shouldn’t Paul Ryan have been presented as the All-American boy next door? He’s young; he’s fit; he looks wholesome and eager and ambitious and sincere. He might be the kind of guy you’d like to see marry your daughter. The Republicans really could have pushed that angle. But what happens when your daughter’s date comes over and lies about his family and his job and then breaks his promise to have her home by eleven?
You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Why would the GOP send Ryan out to meet the American people with a script filled with distortions and misrepresentations? I mean, even if they ultimately wanted to use Ryan as an attack-dog who would push the edges of truthfulness, couldn’t that wait for later? Couldn’t they let him come across as a golden boy instead of a prevaricating slime ball?
Frankly, I don’t understand why Romney chose him at all, but if they were going to pick such a polarizing figure, they could have at least made the most of his assets before they completely squandered them. I don’t get it.
