WASHINGTON – What optics. With the USS Wisconsin as the stage, Gov. Bob McDonnell announced Mitt Romney, who jogged down to the platform set up to introduce conservative darling Paul Ryan.
This race will not be a referendum on Pres. Obama. And Romney will not go out with any cards left on the table. There’s also no other pick that could have turned the page more sharply back to economics.
In life, whenever you make big decisions, the only way you weather the outcome no matter what it might be is to follow your own compass. Whatever you say about Mitt Romney, he’s done that here. Paul Ryan resonates with Romney’s surety that this election is about economics. Because it’s Mitt Romney’s only strong suit, he’s running with it all the way.
Here’s the official press release that dropped into my inbox early this morning:
MITT ROMNEY & PAUL RYAN: AMERICA’S COMEBACK TEAM
Boston, MA – Mitt Romney today announced Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan as his Vice Presidential running mate. Below is Congressman Ryan’s biography:
U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan is in his seventh term in Congress representing Wisconsin’s First Congressional District. He is Chairman of the House Budget Committee, where he has worked tirelessly leading the effort to reign in federal spending and increase accountability to taxpayers. He also serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, where he has focused on simplifying the tax code and making health care more affordable and accessible.
In January 2010, Ryan gained attention nationwide after unveiling his “Roadmap for America’s Future,” a proposal to eliminate the federal deficit, reform the tax code, and preserve entitlements for future generations.
Representative Ryan was born in Janesville, Wisconsin on January 29, 1970. A fifth-generation Wisconsin native, Ryan was the youngest of four children born to Paul Ryan Sr., who worked as an attorney, and Betty, a stay-at-home mom.
In April 2000, Ryan proposed to Janna Little, a native Oklahoman, at one of his favorite fishing spots, Big St. Germain Lake in Wisconsin. Later that year, the two were married in Oklahoma City.
The Ryans reside in Janesville with their three children, Liza, Charlie and Sam. The family are parishioners at St. John Vianney Catholic Church.
Upon entering Congress in January of 1999, Ryan was the youngest member of the freshmen class at the age of 28. Prior to running for Congress, Ryan served as an aide to Republican Senators Robert Kasten Jr. and Sam Brownback, former U.S. Rep. and Vice Presidential Candidate Jack Kemp, and as a speechwriter for Education Secretary William Bennett.
Ryan is a graduate of Joseph A. Craig High School in Janesville and earned degrees in economics and political science from Miami University in Ohio. He is an avid outdoorsman and is a member is of his local archery association, the Janesville Bowmen.
This pick will give indigestion to the Mark McKinnon moderate Republicans, but at the end of this race it will either lift the right to power or put it down for decades. However, it is the conservative’s dream pick.
It could make the Team Obama’s day, because of the platform of austerity on which Romney-Ryan is based.
However, for the first time Mitt Romney has defined himself.
There’s now a real debate to be had and people have a real choice. The presidential race is now actually about something.
Taylor Marsh, a veteran political analyst and former Huffington Post contributor, is the author of The Hillary Effect, available at Barnes and Noble and on Amazon. Her new-media blog www.taylormarsh.com covers national politics, women and power.