Open Thread – “RYAN!/(romney)” ticket continues to suck
What is it? Day four of the ticket being the worst, most desperate charade since McCain picked Palin? Sure there were some initial squeals of excitement from the GOP faithful programed to squeal excitedly when Rove rings a bell. There are still people saying this this was a “bold” pick, because how else can you describe a pick that alienates huge swaths of the electorate? “Ididotic” “shortsighted” ? They work. Here is my favorite use of “boldness” to describe the pick so far.
Which bring us to another problematic aspect of Romney’s decision to pick Ryan. The very qualities that attract the right to Ryan — his ideological purity and his verbal dexterity in making the case for smaller government — are very likely to eclipse Romney, who despite the boldness of his choice still projects a weak political persona and ideological ambiguity. No candidate willingly demotes himself from first to second fiddle, but Romney has chosen to do so.
Why? This was a decision made from weakness. The parallel with McCain is unavoidable. McCain chose Palin for one reason, and one reason only … he knew he was losing. From Romney’s perspective, Ryan was the best move from a choice of bad moves, but that doesn’t mean it was a winning move. Reserve judgment for at least a month before deciding that.
The evidence is mounting, but do you know how I know this Ryan pick is really terrible? The screwballs at Delawarepolitics.net love it. The most accurate political reverse-barometers in the world are giving each other high fives.
via dkos
Mittins had his oldest son call Pawlenty and that Senator from Ohio to tell them they were not being picked for Veep. What a wimp
A clip is making the media rounds of Ryan sneering “Where are the jobs, Mr. President?”
Considering Ryan is running with the Outsourcer in Chief, I think the Obama campaign should have some very good answers for that question, which I hope to see in response ads very soon. Maybe the jobs are in Mitt’s IRA, or his car elevator.
And every downticket Democrat should pick up on Ryan’s “Where are the jobs” theme to point out Ryan and Congressional Republicans defeated the Bring Jobs Home Act last month.
Correction: The Bring Jobs Home Act was filibustered by Senate Republicans. Still worth pointing out though as a response to “where are the jobs.”
Displaying unusual mastery of the facts for a cable news journalist, Soledad O’Brien of all people dismantles GOP talking points coming out of John Sununu. I don’t know if this particular segment will make a difference, but maybe TV journalists all over will start getting personally pissed at Republicans lying to their faces on their own shows. It is a pleasure to watch: http://dailykos.com/story/2012/08/14/1119989/-New-Romney-claim-Mitt-s-Medicare-plan-is-very-different-than-Ryan-s
Sununu is reduced claiming that “facts” and Romney’s own quotes do not exist. More like this please.