Paul Ryan: Romney's Hope

Official portrait of Congressman . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On a Saturday morning in mid-August, aboard the USS Wisconsin while docked in Virginia, Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting Mitt Romney introduced his new running mate Paul Ryan as "the next President of the United States".

Some conservatives wish that were true.  Ryan, a seven-term congressman from Wisconsin, is actually running for vice-president.  He's really there to take the pressure off of Romney's shortcomings as a candidate, making him more palatable to Tea Partiers.

Unless you seriously follow politics, chances are real good that you've never heard of Ryan.  Behold:  He's 42, hails from Janesville, Wisconsin (a town close to the Illinois border), reads Ayn Rand (author of "Atlas Shrugged", "The Fountainhead" and other conservative tomes), listens to Led Zeppelin (who once recorded "Dazed and Confused"), and follows the party line on social issues (pro-life, anti-gay marriage, etc.).

Ryan's main focus as a member of Congress is the federal deficit, being chairman of the House Budget Committee as well as serving on the Ways and Means Committee.  He has sponsored bills in the past that would reduce the size of government, but would always get shot down by Democrats.  The budget Ryan is now proposing isn't all that much different from President Barack Obama's plan, except that Medicare and Medicaid would be gutted and military spending would not be touched.

It's the part about government health care that's raising red flags for the Romney-Ryan ticket.  Seniors and ordinary folk in a major swing state like Florida (and perhaps elsewhere) aren't thrilled that the GOP duo wants to cut billions of dollars at their expense and getting little in return, while billionaires get more tax breaks.

Meanwhile, Tim Pawlenty has once again been passed over for the vice-presidential slot.  Could it be that Romney took one look at Pawlenty's record as governor of Minnesota, then decided he could do better by naming someone else?

With Ryan now on board the Romney train, some pundits believe we're going to have a substantive discussion about America's financial future during this campaign.  Or will we?  As long as both candidates' PACs fling mud in each other's TV commercials, and as long as there isn't an international crisis, don't count on it.

Will Paul Ryan help or hurt Mitt Romney's chances of unseating President Obama in November?  Well, Ryan's no Sarah Palin, for which conservatives should be thankful.  But the more people get to know about Ryan's plans to reshape government at the expense of the middle class, the less they're going to like.  Other than that, only time will tell.