General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRep. Paul D. Ryan is more politician than he is a true conservative.
Taking the House speaker job could be a political loser for Rep. Paul D. Ryan
At the same time, Ryan has enjoyed unusual popularity among Republicans without the messy challenges of leadership or the time-consuming job of fundraising. Among other duties, the modern speaker must spend much of his or her time traveling the country to raise money for the partys candidates.
But Ryan's conservative credentials have not been fully tested in the day-to-day wrangling required of a leader, and a bruising turn as speaker risks dimming his star-power. Outside conservative groups have already begun to attack.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/la-na-house-speaker-gop-search-20151009-story.html
Mass
(27,315 posts)First, Paul Ryan is a Conservative. His heroes are Jack Kempf and Ayn Rand, this does not make him a moderate. Anyway, the GOP House caucus has ONLY conservatives, except may be a handful of moderate Republicans. What he may not be is a nihilist that does not believe that government does not need to exist at all. It would be so nice not to redefine words to fit a narrative.
Secondly, Paul Ryan has not been tested as a leader, so nobody has the slightest idea how he would perform as speaker.
Thirdly, the idea that you would redefine the role of the speaker to fit Paul Ryan's needs is ludicrous. BTW, he is a huge fundraiser, second to only Boehner during the 113th Congress, so I have no clue what this BS about fundraising is. But this seems to be the excuse Ryan gives these days to refuse to be the sacrificial lamb, so ...
But why stop and consider the real world. After all, those are the same people who thought McCarthy was a shoe-on for speaker a few minutes before he announced he did not see how to get the 218 votes, and that he was so friendly with the rest of the GOP Congress that they would eat in their hand.
As for being conservative enough, I doubt that anybody will be conservative enough for a caucus that does not believe in government. So, why focus on that.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/10/09/paul-ryan-s-choice-speaker-or-sanity.html
Paul Ryans Choice: Speaker or Sanity?
This article of the Daily Beast asks the real question : can anybody having to deal with this senate stay sane.
Even if Ryan were to swoop in to save the day, the calculations would remain the same: a class of House Republicans that cannot find sufficient internal consensus to govern consistently without crisis. This is something even the most fervent Ryan fans admit.
The problem is not Paul Ryan (or Issa, or Chaffetz, or ... McCarthy). The problem is to deal with the Freedom Caucus so that they get that there are things that NEED TO HAPPEN.
Octafish
(55,745 posts)Guy is all for welfare for all-out warfare types making mincemeat of innocent nations, including mine, the USA.
And he's a crook.
HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)I'm sure he's capable of spending time fundraising if he cuts a little time with the "dumbells".
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)he has the ethics of a hyena and the personal style of a poison toad.