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Rachel explained on the air last night that there are plenty of Republican congressional candidates who are suddenly going out of their way to remind voters they disagree with Paul Ryan on Medicare. It's a reminder that Republican activists are excited to see Ryan on the national ticket, but Republican officials are, well, pretty darn nervous.
How does one know for sure? There's one big hint: Republicans are dishing to reporters about the behind-the-scenes anxiety that appears to be bordering on panic.
Away from the cameras, and with all the usual assurances that people aren't being quoted by name, there is an unmistakable consensus among Republican operatives in Washington: Romney has taken a risk with Ryan that has only a modest chance of going right -- and a huge chance of going horribly wrong.
In more than three dozen interviews with Republican strategists and campaign operatives -- old hands and rising next-generation conservatives alike -- the most common reactions to Ryan ranged from gnawing apprehension to hair-on-fire anger that Romney has practically ceded the election. [...]
[T]he more pessimistic strategists don't even feign good cheer: They think the Ryan pick is a disaster for the GOP. Many of these people don't care that much about Romney -- they always felt he faced an improbable path to victory -- but are worried that Ryan's vocal views about overhauling Medicare will be a millstone for other GOP candidates in critical House and Senate races.
Note there are two parallel tracks to this. The first is the group of Republicans who suspect that Ryan will make it very difficult for Romney to win. The second is the group of Republicans who agree with the first group, but who also believe Ryan will hurt the party up and down the ballot.
At this point, just as the party is supposed to be coming together in advance of the national convention, both contingents are dishing to reporters about their discontent. There's some irony to this -- Romney picked Ryan to bring the party together. It's worked insofar as Republican activists and Republican media are delighted, but it's come up short to the extent that GOP candidates and their aides don't know how to run with the "kill Medicare" guy near the top of the ballot.
Indeed, job creation and economic growth -- the issues that were supposed to be at the center of the Republican message for the next 12 weeks -- have been pushed aside as the party deals with the Ryan-sized challenges Romney just dumped on the GOP.
One leading Republican consultant told Politico,"Very not helpful down ballot -- very." Another added, "The most popular phrase in Washington right now is: 'I love Paul Ryan, but...'"
The Hill had a very similar report that was published around the same time, focusing on the congressional aspect.
Republicans strategists are worried that Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) addition to the presidential ticket will cost their party House and Senate seats this fall.
Their concern: Democrats will successfully demonize Ryan's budget plan, which contains controversial spending cuts and changes to Medicare.
"There are a lot races that are close to the line we're not going to win now because they're going to battle out who's going to kill grandma first, ObamaCare or Paul Ryan's budget," said one Republican strategist who works on congressional races. "It could put the Senate out of reach. In the House it puts a bunch of races in play that would have otherwise been safe. ... It remains to be seen how much damage this causes, but my first blush is this is not good."
As part of the scramble to deal with the new, unexpected problems posed by a Romney-Ryan ticket, Republicans are quickly putting together new instructions for GOP candidates. Over the weekend, for example, the National Republican Congressional Committee told its candidates to stop using the words "entitlement reform," "privatization," and "every option is on the table," because it will only make it easier for Democrats to use Ryan against them.
At the same time, the NRCC has a video with suggested rhetoric for Republican candidates on how to combat Medicare criticisms.
Who knows, maybe this will work for the party. There are a lot of folks out there who are easily fooled, and telling them that Democrats, not Paul Ryan, are Medicare's real nemesis might succeed, even if the argument is ridiculous.
But what does it say about the Ryan selection on the merits if his party is furiously working on a damage-control strategy?
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"...but are worried that Ryan's vocal views about overhauling Medicare..."
I love that the GOP's biggest concern is that the VP nominee might actually tell the voters what he might actually do.
The GOP is crying out for help. Why else use a battleship as a visual? They were proven obsolete in 1921 yet every country focused on them rather than aircraft carriers.
This is more GOP nostalgia for 1950. Romney is my favorite Martian, with Ryan playing the young bill bixby character who shacks up with the alien. Ann Coulter is the kook neighbor Agnes Cravetts who gets freaked out when she sees the freaky things the Martian does.
I hope all the Republican naysayers are right....that this Ryan kook will bring the Romster down with his rich friends.
Rush went on and on about it this morning, asking for conservative PURITY of their precious essence. Wants to throw those mysterious worried operatives (the mainstream Republicans) OUT.
Starting to sound like REASON, not Democrats, are the Republicans' main enemy this summer. Wonder if this choice was so bad, even before the Convention, that the FIX (voter ID laws) won't be enough to win the day for them.
Americans...go with your gut. If it sounds too tricky to be true for your country, don't vote for them. Remember how their last guy did....GWB. They won't hardly even mention his name these days. Romney's name will disappear too.
Time Republicans come to their senses and quit flirting with libertarianism. Mega corporations are not our salvation!
Messerly, your observation about the battleship was succinct yet telling, as usual. Neither of them has military experience, though Mitt said he wanted to serve (but was forced to pedal his bicycle through Paris, poor soul).
Taking the Fifth has been one of their core strategies from the beginning (thanks, largenose), but look at how Ryan avoided Schieffer's question about how many years of tax return were required for his vetting. Ryan's crafty, and will learn not to give much away during the campaign, but his past pronouncements on Medicare, the budget, and PERSONHOOD (H.R. 212, I believe) will let people know what's lurking in their minds.
Seriously? Limbaugh is channeling Buck Turgidson?
Now I know I've stepped through the looking glass!
I thought Santorum expressed the pure GOP frothy essence that Rush felt was so under appreciated these days. It's getting so that old men can't do what they like to unwilling participants anymore. There is two problems with nostalgia for a time when the non elites simply bent over and took it like men.
Well, if the Repub congressional candidates didn't like the Ryan kill Medicare budget, perhaps they should not have voted for it. That needs to stick like glue to these idjits.
It will be interesting to see if any GOP house members will really have to backtrack HOW they voted when the Ryan plan was brought forward. What will they say "oops, I did not mean it?"
The worst possible republican candidate. Picks the worst possible running mate. Seems fitting when you think about it. Fox News is loving Ryan as the VP choice. But in the overall view of things. Meaning outside of the GOP Bubble Fox and most conservatives float in. Ryan is not that great of a pick. Because he does NOTHING to help Romney garner more votes. He just appeals to the base. Most swing voters practically hate the guy. And Why would anybody who wants to win Florida. Pick Ryan as their VP.
Mitt didn't serve The President Florida on a silver platter. But to put in it terms Mitt can understand. It's like two companies who want to buy another one. And Mitt decides to invite the CEO of the competing company to dinner. Where the company that's being bought is invited to too. And letting the other CEO pick the restaurant. And Mitt not only shows up late. But shows up late with Gordon Geko (Wall Street) in tow.
Ryan is toxic outside of the GOP Bubble. And Yet Mitt picks this guy as VP? Seriously?Ryan is a worse pick for Mitt. Than Palin was for McCain. I say that because Palin was picked to garner the women vote. Ryan only appeals to the base and tells the base. Hey see Mitt is just like you. Until he does a speech in a swing state, or dodges the tax questions, or avoid the whole Ryan Budget that he was for before he was against it. Other than that, He's just like You!
Calvin
Absolutely, but the bubble runs the GOP now. If the democrats capitalize on this and run the election table we could actually see the bubble pop!
With the Ryan pick the Tea\Extreme GOP gets what they are demanding. I think maybe the dog has caught the car.
This continual catering and appealing to Mitt's base...why? Isn't Mitt's base that straight ticket voting bunch, regardless of having to hold their noses to do so?
What Mitt needed to do, in his 5 years of campaigning, was to appeal to someone else OTHER than his base, like Independents or the elderly or the black or Latino communities, a demographic that would tip the electoral scales in his favor. But he's managed to alienate everyone BUT his base and Ryan isn't going to help.
And Romney has forgotten that there are some nice people left in the US who feel that his campaign being focused on continually bashing the other guy is utterly classes.
And Ryan doesn't want to talk. Got asked Sunday at the iowa State Fair about the farm bill and replied "I'm here to have a nice day at the fair."
If you like your 401(k) you're going to love what we do to Social Security! We're going to give all your retirement to the guys who lost you 40% of your net value while ripping off the country. Have fun, Middle Class. You know we love you!
Classless...classless..
Not only did Paul Ryan ignore the farm bill, he kept quiet about Romney's opposition to the wind energy tax credit.
Ryan also had the audacity to say to the crowd: "Where are the jobs, Mr. President?"
http://iowacity.patch.com/articles/vp-candidate-paul-ryan-stop-at-iowa-state-fair-interrupts-obama-s-three-day-visit#video-11002378
Like that was ever an actual priority for the GOP when they took over the House in 2011.
I wish someone in that crowd had shouted back - "Where's your vote for the jobs, Ryan - pass the American Jobs Act now!"
A little confusing about the farm bill. Ryan stated yesterday that the farm bill was being held up in the Senate. As I understand, the bill is being held up due to the drastic cuts in SNAP (food stamps). At the same time Republican House stated they would deal with the farm bill upon return from recess. Does this mean it is going back to the house? AND when POTUS was in Iowa yesterday, he appropriated 170million for slaughter of livestock to feed the poor. What is happening with the farm bill?
Because otherwise Grover Norquist and the other power brokers will cut him off at the knees. They may not fund ads attacking him, but his budget will suddenly dry up and blow away.
And that's not even mentioning what Murdock will do.
Did anyone else catch the mistake or the Freudian slip that Rmoney made when he announced Ryan and referred to him as The next President of the U.S. Colbert covered this, very funny. This is quite similar to when Bush pretended he was the President and Cheney was the one calling all the shots, literally. Does Wall St. think that the Muppets will actually elect a Puppet like Bush again. Even amidst all the obstructionism done against the American People , we will not surrender. That dark grey cloud is finally beginning to clear people are once again smiling and saying Hello to each other. We are not doomed, as long as we wake up and smell the roses while they are still there to smell. God is in charge, not the rich and famous. We may as well watch the little side shows that the GOP are putting on. Purely for entertainment value only. The fact that they believe they are not being watched and they can keep getting richer just by lieing is funny. Like sending trolls who have been fed misinformation. Entertaining. What people will do for a buck.
Romni also said that President Obama did the same thing with his own VP candidate.. I dont know if that is true or not but he told a crowd and reporters...
Obama did the same thing and immediately corrected himself. Romney walked offstage and had to be told by someone else, then walked back on to make the correction. Not huge in the grand scheme of things, but perhaps telling.
That made me cringe. I mean, come on Romney, laugh at it, all he could do is say, well obama did the same thing! I mean, what a baby, laugh at yourself. This is just another huge flaw in this guy. If he makes a mistake, he wont come out and admit it, he will just cover it up and cover it up. If he entered into a war and realized it was a mistake, he wouldnt just say so, he would keep sending our service people into the slaughterhouse so he wouldnt be seen as wrong.
Obama did slip up. Rmoney slipped up. Roberts screwed up the oath of office. It happens. It shouldn't disqualify Rmoney from being president.
Being a pathological lying scumbag with delusions of competence should disqualify Rmoney from being president.
We can already assume Ryan will be unacceptable to many women and elderly voters. Once the public learns more about his positions, the euphoria over the "lad" will ebb and some voters will begin to question Romney's choice.
I'd love to believe Obama's re-election was cemented with Ryan's pick, but I can't. Too many people are still out of work and voters traditionally blame the party in power. And I worry about the race factor. It's always the not-so-invisible gorilla in the room.
It is traditionally true that when you have high unemployment numbers. The voters blame the current party in office. Until you get to today. Because the fact is. Nobody or I should say a vast majority of voters. Do not blame The President for the way the economy is. They still blame Bush for it. Which is why Obama still has pretty high numbers considering the conditions.
Ironically the more Mitt ran his campaign in the Economy. He still never pulled ahead of The President. At best he was tied. But he never was seriously ahead. Even with the economy the way it is. Ryan as the VP doesn't overwhelmingly help The President get re-elected. But it seriously doesn't improve Mitt's odds either. More likely picking Ryan actually decreases his winning odds. Because Ryan is toxic outside of the GOP. And no matter how they try to spin Ryan. In a good light. One just can't get rid of the "He's the Kill Medicare Guy" tag line. It's literally what he is famous for to begin with.
When the debates start. Is when people will have a clearer picture of who's going to win or loose. And at some point Romney is going to have to answer policy questions. And Ryan is going to have to defend his Budget Plan. And neither of those are going to go over well. Because Mitt's Policy's are Bush's. And Ryan's Plan is undefendable to anyone outside of the GOP Bubble.
I hear you Calvin! And given the state of our economy, I also would have expected Romney to be leading the polls. The fact that he never has is a hopeful sign. But I'm a glass-half-empty type and I have little faith in the American electorate as a whole. We've allowed Republicans to lie their way into the White House too many times. I'm hopeful about Obama's re-election, but I'll always be wary.
As to the women vote, they think we'll ignore our issues and interests and vote Republican because they think Ryan is good looking. I don't know where that idea came from, though; he makes me queasy.
The thing that rarely gets talked about with regard to voting and the economy is that people tend to vote based on the direction they think the economy is heading, not where it is right now. The economy may still suck (thanks, congressional Republicans, job well done!) but there's little doubt it's improving.
But being wary is good. Obama's chances are good, but only if we get involved and put in the effort to make it happen. We need to be optimistic, but not complacent.
I've been saying since the very start of the Republican primaries that the GOP was going to implode and I was going to enjoy watching it. Right on both counts.
*kicks back with a fresh bucket of popcorn*
Absolutely. And don't let anyone tell you that Democrats can't take back the House. If Nancy Pelosi gets the Speaker's job back, I'll send Ryan a thank you card. Hell, I'll send him a valentine's day card.
I love it that all these people running in contested districts are distancing themselves from the Ryan plan NOW. But, did those already in office not vote for it already (duh)? And, what are the odds that any Republican elected to Congress will vote for it AGAIN if given the chance? They can try to run from the record now, but we need to remind voters how those representatives will line up after election day.
It's going to be the GOP's 1972.
That Romney is myopic and out of touch.
Beware of an October surprise! Voter ID laws do present an X factor! Litigation will no doubt be employed in mass by GOP candidates should election tallies be close and not in their favor! And, tragically, beware of cold clinging hands should the Right's dream ticket come up short!
Oh, and pray the Capitol doesn't burn down between now and November by the act of a "communist" dupe! -Kevo
This where the Fox Bubble is a real problem for conservative operatives. Without a way to check their dreams against reality people are prone to making giant mistakes of the worst kind. In this case I guess conservative base is still happy with the pick, but over the next weeks it is entirely possible the base will slowly come to the realization that not everybody watches Fox or reads a Murdock rag and a lot of people don't like the Ryan budget. That will be a shock for a lot of the Republican base.
The strength of the tea party is white people over 60, the same as the key Fox News demographic. The Ryan budget is naturally toxic to that group. Long term the Ryan pick will hurt in that key demographic. What were conservatives thinking?
The crazy hat gang want the guvmint to keep its hands off their Medicare. Even though they don't want guvmint run healthcare, Medicare is one of the best deals the elderly have going for them. I am almost 70 and I've lost many friends over their Republican policy views in this very red state of KS, but whether they ever understand that Medicare is government run or not, they will understand if somebody is trying to kill it. Getting rid of SS and Medicare has been on the Republican agenda since their inception. Chances are though that those old teabags are going to continue to believe whatever FOX and Limbaugh say.
The average person barely knows anything about the affordable care act! Never underestimate the right wing propaganda machine! We need to get the RIGHT information out quickly and often! "A lie travels half way around the world before the truth gets it's shoes on!" Mark Twain
hard to believe they haven't figured out bill kristol's a democratic mole
The Republicans were not worried when the voted for the Ryan plan. Now they fear voter retribution. This is what happens when a party votes in lock step. But even if the Republicans lose these elections because of the Medicare issue, it will return again just like the attempts to privatize Social Security. These repeated attempts are conditioning the voters to accept privatization. Someday, the Republicans will be successful because people will forget the 2008 market crash just like people have forgotten the 1929 crash and what the country was like before regulation and social welfare programs.
... what does it say about the Ryan selection ...
A) What does it fail to say ...
B) What support does it gain without qualification .
C) What level of sunshine does it grant to perennial finalists in the Dan Quail and Sarah Palin who fathered me , and my grand babies reality superstars competitions .
D) Explain in a four hundred word essay , or less , how the stalwarts are otherwise distinguished and separate to Winken , Blinken , and Nod , by other than a photo finish . Illustrations for extra credit will be entertained , no MSG please .
F) last but not least ; Which narrating source has more natural support for the enviable comparisons , L. Frank Baum or Lewis Carrol .
Which brings us back to , Doe a deer a female deer , posing in the headlights like a party that is taking place well within the electorates wheelhouse . Doe ray me fa so la tea doe .
Thank you to Mitt the Kitten and Ryan the Lion for all the images . In the words , as I remember them of Edward Everett Horton's , "...you can just bet your boots that he's a-lyin' ...
I think that the choice of Ryan for VP was a peace offering to the tea party from a scared Romney. The clue to me is the tea's extreme reaction to Andrea Saul's supposed gaffe. I couldn't believe it when Ann Coulter (little miss can't get any further right without falling off the flat world) called for Mitt's financial backers to desert him if he didn't control his campaign, prove his commitment to the extremes of his party, and fire Andrea Saul. I saw this and other tea's very public slap down of Romney as indicative of the revolution now being waged in the Republican Party. This public demonstration of willingness to pull support for Romney's campaign was a very real threat that has been brewing for awhile as Romney continues to loose ground to Obama and fails to be "conservative" enough. And the Convention is not over yet. Now that isn't as much of a threat as it was last week.
Astute observation and conclusion ckeely
I'm starting a new Super-Pac! 54 year-olds for Romney/Ryan! Uh, no, wait...
Oh, this is gonna be brutal. Between NOT picking Rubio (or even seeming to give him serious consideration) and PICKING Ryan, Romney may well be handing Florida over to Obama, given that he's just alienated two key demographics in that state in one fell swoop. Well, this could be a test to see if only appealing to the extreme religious Right, and white rich men, but also working frantically to suppress everyone else's vote can be a winning strategy.
Paul Ryan is definitely a terrible choice but let's not forget about Romney. Everyone decries the 'buying of Congress' by Corporations yet Republicans seem anxious to elect a former Corporate CEO [with questionable business ethics] to the Oval Office. That would be the final nail in the coffin of this country....owned lock, stock, and barrel by Corporations. Wake up, people!!
http://www.politicususa.com/bernie-sanders-rips-masks-billionaire-oligarch-puppets-romney-ryan.html
This is my favorite quote from the Politico article the blog pointed to in the second paragraph.
'“I think it’s a very bold choice. And an exciting and interesting pick. It’s going to elevate the campaign into a debate over big ideas. It means Romney-Ryan can run on principles and provide some real direction and vision for the Republican Party. And probably lose. Maybe big,” said former President George W. Bush senior adviser Mark McKinnon. '
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79697.html?hp=t1
With friends like these, who needs enemas.
I think it says, first and foremost, that Romney doesn't learn from the mistakes of others. His campaign has had the smell of implosion for a couple of months now, and this just seals the deal. It is much like the Palin pick, but worse. His positions are worse, far worse, and this seals the deal on women voters other than the far right wing ones.
I've long thought that the powers behind the powers.... well beyond the Cocks and Roves of this world... wanted Obama to win. Now it looks like Romney has realized that it's hopeless and given up getting votes from anyone but the extreme right.
Still, we have to be alert. Voter suppression is everywhere and fraud will be as well if they can get away with it.
Heh. They'll call it "demonizing," but polling shows that if you describe the plan using Ryan's own words, a large majority hate it. Even a majority of Republicans hate it. Tell the truth and they think it's hell.
I think the choice of Ryan signals that Romney's decided to depend on voter suppression and voting machine manipulation.
My concern will be heightened as polls start to show the race getting closer. At the point where Romney is only margin-of-error behind Obama, the election can more easily be affected by disenfranchising voters in key states or perhaps a few additional hanging chads.
Here in Pennsylvania, the state government has openly stated that their attempts to kick people off the voting registry and force a government ID into the system, all on the transparent ruse of curbing the nonexistent voter fraud, "will let Mitt Romney win the election."
They don't even hide their rigging anymore. This has a real chance of being the most filthy "election" since the one in 2000 when king George was appointed.
This obviously rehearsed "friendly banter tm" between the candidates is what Republicans call chemistry?! I've seen more genuine sentiment from blocks of wood. If this is how poor they handle themselves on the home front, how the hell can we trust them to keep their poker face together when over seas?
I love how all Romney's surrogates are now trying to duck the Paul Ryan budget and the only way they can flap them wings are by saying that this is not a Ryan-Romney ticket but a Romney-Ryan ticket, and Romney has his own budget plan (which is????)
It is sad to hear those who are still defending the Ryan budget try to do so just by blabbering stuff that doesn't even make the slightest sense (not that they ever make any).
Senunu was on Chris Matthews yesterday defending Paul Ryan's plan on Medicare, basically stating that it is a great program for everybody because they will keep the current plan for people over 50, and go on with the wonderful voucher program for the rest. He then explained why the voucher program is wonderful for the rest of us: American people want to be free to choose their own health provider. The Paul Ryan reform of medicare gives us just that.
I don't know how the mind of the right wings work, but the first thing that comes in my mind when I hear his explanation was: Ok...if this voucher program really is that wonderful and everybody should be happy with it, then why even bother to make exclusion to the people who are already in the system (which according to him what they have now limit their choice and that they would be happy to have a freedom to choose) and those who are getting ready to be in the program? Why the appeasement so necessary? Aren't they supposed to be jumping up and down throwing a parade asking for that voucher right now?
But that's just the way my brain works, I am probably just wired differently.
i think it is somewhat pathetic,and not just a wee bit funny that the over 60 tea party crowd who hate Pres. Obama are the same under 30 crowd who were going to change the world back in the 1960's. "hell no we won't go" has been replaced by"government, keep your hands off my medicare. what the hell happened to them?
Speaking as one of them:
forty years, three kids, and a mortgage.
They may be the same age bracket, but doesn't mean they are the same crowd. They are mainly a racist, reactionary bunch, and they were NOT for the most part on the same side as the anti-war, civil rights or feminist movements.
Those people were probably much the same in the 60s, but they weren't politically active. Nixon's Silent Majority, if you will. The hippies were a small fraction of the culture, they just got a lot of attention, and history vindicated them on Viet Nam, civil rights, the women's movement, the sexual revolution, etc. Everyone wants to say they were at Woodstock; no one wants to say they were a young Republican. But plenty of folks from that generation were. And are.
Willard picks as his running mate a leading member of the most hated institution in America: Congress. Add to that the fact that Paul Ryan has been instrumental in many of the actions that has made Congress a pariah to the American people. First, his ill-considered budget that any Democratic candidate in any race this November should hang around his/her opponent's neck. AND -- let us not forget that Congress left on vacation this year without passing a farm bill in the face of the worst drought that farmers have faced in this country in 80 years.
It's not just the budget. It's not just jobs. It's certainly not the deficit. It's the complete indifference that Congress has shown regarding the plight of America's middle class. The American middle class is vanishing before our eyes. And Paul. Ryan. Doesn't. Care. And Willard is so out of touch he hasn't even noticed.
I played a show on Friday night at a bar in NH. The restaurant downstairs was having a $5000 dollar a head fundraiser for Gov. Romney. Attendees included Tim Pawlenty, his wife, John Sununu, and the US Ambassador to the Phillippines. Tag Romney was there as his father's surrogate, and I would guess that it was a "sorry we're not picking you, Tim, but can we have some money anyway" kind of thing. I saw one person dressing down a young lady as I was bringing in my gear telling her "What don't you understand about the words *private party*?". There was an older couple upstairs affiliated with the gathering, yet separate from it. They sat directly in front of my speaker. I postponed beginning my show, because I knew that the young man in the ponytail playing the acoustic guitar would offend them. I waited for quite a bit of time, losing money in the process, as to not offend them. As soon as I started, they flagged down the server, and moved to the farthest table away from me that they could. Then when the air was too cold, they demanded it be shut off. The overarching point is - Why should we support people who so blatantly look down upon the working class? The money that came in for a man who does not need it could have supported my family for upwards of 2 years. I made $46 dollars that night, and not one cent of it came from the gathering below me. On an up note, I think the Ambassador came up and listened to me for a moment...