Well, he's made his choice...

...and it's Paul Ryan, author if the infamous "Ryan Budget"

Though I don't think he's made the official announcement yet, Mitt Romney is set to announce Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan as his running mate.

This certainly seems a good choice; it gives the Republicans a shot at actually turning the media away from the ongoing (and crippling) debate over Romney's tax returns. (You can already find Republicans scrambling to jump on the "We will save Medicare!" bandwagon.) And from Mitt Romney's point of view, any shift in the emphasis of Obama's attacks at this point would be welcome, since Romney has been getting the worst of the public debate of late.

I'm tempted to say that this choice is little more than a move to secure the continued support of Tea Party Republicans in a continuing effort to strengthen their commitment to Romney, and it certainly is that, but I really believe that changing the debate was the more important goal of the Romney campaign.

The big drawback is the aforementioned Ryan Budget, which has already been analysed to death and given the Democrats much fuel to throw on the fire. Romney and his people must have known this, but maybe that's what they want. Like I said, any shift in the debate at this point can't be all bad for them.

I remember four years ago when John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate. At the time, I didn't know much about her and said that it actually wasn't a bad choice for him. As we all learned more about Palin, most of us began to realize what a poor choice she actually was, and to dread the possibility that she might herself become President. As it happens (as I'm sure you remember) she didn't win, and that possibility has drifted farther and farther off into the Bering Sea.

It remains to be seen if that will happen again, or if this time the choice of VP will held carry the Republicans into the White House. What is certain is that while Sarah Palin came as a surprise for most of us, and we all had a lot to learn about her, we know more than a bit about Paul Ryan. And I don't see what we know about him being all that much help to the Romney campaign. Paul Ryan's budget, in particular, could be a major stumbling block since it is so radical, so conservative and relies so heavily on "voodoo math" (but that's for a later article).

I have a history of being wrong. After all, I did say that Sarah Palin was a good choice for John McCain. But the Republicans have shown that many of their choices, particularly those pushed by the Tea Party movement, can be disastrously wrong. How this choice affects the campaign, we'll have to wait and see.

And I'm not always wrong...

The Blues Viking

The opinions here expressed are mine and if you don’t like them you can get your own damn blog.