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2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumEzra Klein nails it on the Ryan pick
As usual Ezra Klein nails it point after point. Here are ten points on the Ryan pick, point 4 is the most important;
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/08/11/paul-ryan-will-be-mitt-romneys-vice-presidential-pick-heres-seven-thoughts-on-what-that-means/
4. Romneys original intention was to make the 2012 election a referendum on President Obamas management of the economy. Ryan makes it a choice between two competing plans for deficit reduction. This election increasingly resembles the Obama campaigns strategy rather than the Romney campaigns strategy.
2. This is an admission of fear from the Romney campaign. You dont make a risky pick like Paul Ryan if you think the fundamentals favor your candidate. You make a risky pick like Paul Ryan if you think the fundamentals dont favor your candidate. And, right now, the numbers dont look good for Romney: Obama leads in the Real Clear Politics average of polls by more than four percentage points his largest lead since April.
7. Ryan upends Romneys whole strategy. Until now, Romneys play has been very simple: Dont get specific. In picking Ryan, he has yoked himself to each and every one of Ryans specifics. And some of those specifics are quite surprising. For instance: Ryan has told the Congressional Budget Office that his budget will bring all federal spending outside Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security to 3.75 percent of GDP by 2050. That means defense, infrastructure, education, food safety, basic research, and food stamps to name just a few will be less than four percent of GDP in 2050. To get a sense for how unrealistic that is, Congress has never permitted defense spending to fall below three percent of GDP, and Romney has pledged that hell never let defense spending fall beneath four percent of GDP. It will be interesting to hear him explain away the difference.
The only positive point was this;
9. Joe Biden has a lot of debate prep ahead of him. Ive interviewed Ryan three times. Twice on health care (here and here), and once on economics (here). Hes very quick on his feet, and hes got a lot of experience explaining his plans to skeptical audiences. Hes also a likable and, while I dont know him very well personally, decent-seeming guy. Hes repeatedly won reelection in a moderate district. Democrats underestimate his political skills at their peril.
The article is short but each point is well thought out.
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Ezra Klein nails it on the Ryan pick (Original Post)
grantcart
Aug 2012
OP
"He’s very quick on his feet, and he’s got a lot of experience explaining his plans to skeptical
Douglas Carpenter
Aug 2012
#2
Team Obama has been two steps ahead of Robme. I'm sure Biden will be fine.
Liberal_Stalwart71
Aug 2012
#3
Inspired
(3,957 posts)1. I was just thinking that Biden needs to start his debate prep today.
For all of the reasons Klein mentions in point 9. I love our VP, and have faith in his abilities, but we cannot dismiss Ryan as just an Eddie Munster look-a-like. Even if we don't like Ryan's views, there is something there, there.
Douglas Carpenter
(20,226 posts)2. "He’s very quick on his feet, and he’s got a lot of experience explaining his plans to skeptical
skeptical audiences. Hes also a likable and, while I dont know him very well personally, decent-seeming guy. Hes repeatedly won reelection in a moderate district. Democrats underestimate his political skills at their peril." - Ezra Klein
Liberal_Stalwart71
(20,450 posts)3. Team Obama has been two steps ahead of Robme. I'm sure Biden will be fine.