They're just trying to get a strong showing out of the base and lose by a respectable margin, it seems.

The same sort of thing happened with W. Bush's second term. No one would have voted for him two years before, yet somehow he won anyway.

is "somehow" code for two planes flew into the twin towers

and republican backers ran a campaign of lies aimed at sullying the actions of a war hero.

@Santa - two years before that election would have been 2002...not 2001

OH YOU GOT ME!!!!!!!

perhaps I didn't think the exact number of years was important. Sort of like I still don't think the exact number of years were important. Perhaps because I know that Bush's approval ratings were high b/w 9/11 and the Iraq War and I was responding in the spirit of the post.

Wow, and I was sure he'd shamelessly try and tap Rubio to gain some of the millions of Latino votes he's horribly alienated...

Instead--ANOTHER white-as-white-bread congressman???

(And to those who take umbrage with my "bringing race into politics" sorry, but electoral demographics is a perfectly fair field to bring it in.

Really...I don't understand this choice at all--does Romney feel that threatened on the Right he has to move to the right?

I never considered Romney a possible winning candidate. He is simply not a politician by nature.

He has been tacking right for some time now. But unlike McCain, who actually didn't alienate moderates, Romney has been doing just that for months. Now, instead of guarding his back and picking a big name in the moderate wing of the party he picks a congressman on the right. He aleady shot himself in the left foot, now he shoots the right for good measure.

He probably wants someone to sell his economic plan. But all the dems have to do is remind everyone that this guy is one of the main reasons for the congressional gridlock and wave the non-partisan studies which show romneys economic policy screws the middle class in deference to the wealthy.

I'm really thinking Ryan was the only one who wanted the job.

I'm shocked, shocked that the resident liberals think Ryan was a bad choice.

Romney was going to get saddled with the Ryan Plan anyhow. This way he has the guy who knows the most about it explaining it for the rest of the campaign. Ryan is the epitome of competence even if you disagree with him on policy. With Romney running as the successful turn around artist this doubles down on that angle. It also puts Wisconsin even more into play, so more money can be spent in Ohio, Virginia, and Florida, where things will be decided. At the very least Obama will have to spend more in Wisconsin now.


But we should all remember that VP choices don't really matter much. Since LBJ stole Texas for Kennedy they've really done nothing. Geraldine Ferraro certainly didn't bring any meaningful amount of women to the Democrats in 1984. Bush wasn't reelected because of Perot, not Quayle. McCain lost because he decided to suspend his campaign as the economy fell apart, not because of Palin. People forget the only time he was ahead was the time between her rollout and the wheels coming off of things.

This election will be decided based on what people think of Romney and Obama, not Biden and Ryan. It's going to be close and whoever the news cycle is chewing over the week of the election will be the one who loses.

It would be really funny if this were a ruse and the pick was actually someone else. Apparently Karl Rove did that in 2000.

So for the record, Invictus thinks it was a good idea to pick a guy helping drive congress to some of its lowest approval ratings in history

*yawn* The outcomes of presidential elections are determined by the Powers That Be years in advance. You don't really think they'd let us peasants elect the most powerful man on earth, do you? Obama will 'win' a second term, as his two predecessors have, because it is a major inconvenience to have massive changes in the imperial bureaucracy every 4 years.

"Bush wasn't reelected because of Perot, not Quayle."

Polls of the 1992 election suggested that Perot drew equal numbers of voters from both Bush and Clinton.

And whatever the effect on campaigns VPs have, this is proof positive to anyone who cares to look that Romney is weak, and he caved to the loudest voices in his party and cast his lot with a guy who is building his career on a foundation of gridlock.

Sorry terrible move, I think that will be clear come election day.

Tolstoy everyone. Years in advance!

Well, why are they low? I don't like Congress because the Democrats haven't passed or even proposed a budget in three years, for one. It can't be that 96% or however much of the American people disprove of Congress JUST because of the Ryan Plan. That's a silly position to hold and you don't mean it.

Ryan courageously put forward a plan to deal with our entitlement crisis. It's imperfect, but it's at least a starting point for the reforms which are ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY for our country to avoid a crisis unlike any we've seen before. There simply is not Democrat plan besides raising taxes (which I mostly support, just maybe wait a year tops), and raising taxes would not have enough of an impact on its own.

The more I think about it, the more I like the pick. This means the 2012 election will be one about real issues, not about Romney killing steelworkers wives or Obama eating dogs. The entitlement crisis has to be solved. Maybe this will spur Obama to come up with a plan of his own. If it's legit I could live with another four years.

Sure you do, the pick was catered to people like you.

"Obama will 'win' a second term, as his two predecessors have, because it is a major inconvenience to have massive changes in the imperial bureaucracy every 4 years."

That's a testable hypothesis. If Romney wins do you promise to stop being a nutty conspiracy theorist and rejoin us in the land of rationality?

"Sure you do, the pick was catered to people like you."

Maybe. But should he rather cater to you? You'd never vote for a Republican if your posts here are any indication.

It's a simple reality that entitlements are on a path to insolvency and they'll take the entire government with them if they aren't fixed. We need to do that. By picking Ryan this is now a big part of the campaign. Good.

But again, VPs don't matter much when it comes to vote-getting. Who switched to Obama because of Biden?

"That's a testable hypothesis. If Romney wins do you promise to stop being a nutty conspiracy theorist and rejoin us in the land of rationality?"

Absolutely not. If Romney wins, I promise to devise a new and revised electoral conspiracy theory to explain the Romney victory, immediately on November 7th.

But seriously, come on. Romney does not have the support of the base of the Republican party. Everyone who is politically conscious in the GOP knows he is - at best - a "Big Government Conservative" who has no principles and will say anything to get elected. People support him because they hate Obama and party leaders want to appear "respectable" by supporting the party nominee. I have yet to come across an enthusiastic Romney supporter that wasn't LDS. That designation may help in my county, where Mormons are well organized and relatively numerous, but in most of the country, it means squat. I'm encouraging everyone I know (including some fairly prominent local Tea Party leaders) to vote for Gary Johnson - I think many will do so. Many more republican/conservative voters will just shrug their shoulders and say "why bother" come election day. Mitt Romney is the ultimate proof that the Republican leadership doesn't give a shit about the 'small government' principles they like to claim during the election season. He has proved he will say and do anything to get elected and maintain power and has no qualms whatsoever about selling out the principles of limited government which the Republican Party claims to believe in. And ironically, there is no tolerance for libertarian heretics who constitute a substantial republican voting block - just witness what they've done to Ron Paul supporters these last few months. You can kiss the young libertarian demographic - 10-15% of Republican primary voters - goodbye. That alone is enough to decide the election.

Romney is a loser from the word 'go'.

"Maybe. But should he rather cater to you? You'd never vote for a Republican if your posts here are any indication."

I'd vote republican if they rose above their association with Far Right conspiracy nuts, evangelical Christians, no-nothing nativists, and all out bigots. But they don't, they cater to them. So no until the Republicans provide a sensible alternative to the democratic party I wouldn't vote for them. This choice makes that all too clear.

and to parry the next attack before it happens, I don't think every pick would have "lost him the election." Alot of names on the list would have added to the ticket. Why Romney would willingly associate himself with the Congressional gridlock he is trying to pin on Obama is beyond me

Romney's not perfect, but he could win. And should he win he would be better than Obama, despite his imperfections. I probably would have voted for Gary Johnson in the primary if he hadn't dropped out (I think) and Santorum didn't have a good chance to win Illinois. Couldn't let that happen. As for the Ron Paul supporters, you won't find a more sympathetic ear than mine when talking about how the GOP needs to be moving in the libertarian directions. But there are really two kinds of Ron Paul supporters. There are ones like me (voted for him in 2008, first vote) who follow the Buckley Rule. And then ones like you who are, frankly, well intentioned nutjobs who believe in conspiracy theories. Much of that 10-15% is people like you, which is pretty insignificant in the electorate as a whole.

The gridlock is in the Senate (both parties), SantaClausowitz. The House has done nothing but pass stuff for nearly two years. As for voting Republican, jsut by framing your argument like that you show that you're so far gone that you'd never vote GOP. That's fine, but don't pretend otherwise.

After seeing Romney in action internationally I think it would be an interesting social experiment to see him in the White House, he'd have to keep Michelle Obama on as 1st Lady because she is the best you've ever had bar none.
In the UK we have our own Romney, he's a complete buffoon also but doesn't take himself anywhere near as serious and actually understands humour. He is right wing but also hugely popular and populist.
Humour & self-deprecation can be great tools to win support from the populace but Romneys character seems to lack these.
I'm genuinely interested to see what Romney would be like in the White House, it could end up being hugely entertaining........

The House is passing stuff that they know is unacceptable to the Senate and a sizable minority in the House and refuse to compromise. Hence GRIDLOCK, perhaps you should stop pretending otherwise as you should also stop pretending that the aforementioned groups don't have huge influence over your party.

"Conspiracy Theorists" are a rapidly growing demographic as our masters shed the pretenses of popular sovereignty. As you say, we now constitute a substantial element of the Republican Party. We are highly knowledgeable about the political process and the electoral system, and are willing to do a flipping crapload of legwork for a political candidate who is willing to show us even the smallest amount of respect (as Ron Paul does, without agreeing with most of the 'conspiracy theories' his supporters believe in). A local Republican political candidate who was written off by the GOP establishment because Dems have a moderate registration advantage has literally dozens of Paulistas walking precincts for him every Saturday, four months out from the election. You dismiss us at your own (electoral) peril - which grows greater every year as our ranks increase. You want the Republican Party to be irrelevant? Just keep laughing at "conspiracy theorists" who constitute a double-digit percentage of your 'base' and a clear majority of those who are willing to do real work for Republican candidates for free.

"And should he win he would be better than Obama, despite his imperfections."

Would he? I have no reason to believe he would repeal Obamacare. He certainly won't roll back the imperialist foreign policy of the last 20 years - indeed, he's promised to ramp it up and has cozied up to ultra right-wing Zionists and essentially promised a new war with Iran (meanwhile, Obama - the suspected 'secret Muslim' - has drawn nothing but ire from the Israeli War Lobby during his term). I have a hard time believing a president who is skilled enough to dodge income taxes would have any personal incentive to reform the tax system. And then there's this youtube clip of Romney shrugging off the concerns of a dying man which alone strikes him from contention in my book:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNv7lY-ZhKA

I've been a Libertarian political activist for more than fifteen years. In those fifteen years I've generally accepted quietly to myself that Republicans were slightly less bad than Democrats. But this election is the first time I'm seeing the Democrat as the clear 'lesser of two evils'. I will not be voting for Obama or encouraging anyone to do so, but I'll put a bullet through my own head before I lift a finger to support Willard Romney and his statist/corporatist /fascist agenda. He represents everything that is wrong with the political class in this country (and the republican party in particular), and I seriously don't give a flying fuck who his veep is - it's all window dressing anyways.

Live free or die! Despite his imperfections, I will be casting a vote for Gary Johnson with moderate enthusiasm and a clear conscience.

Wonder what percentage of that base also puts Jews behind every conspiracy they think of, I know we have one in this thread already, although we understand it is too early for him to shed his own pretenses.

I am glad, however, that in this case anti-antisemitism has taken a vote away from the republicans.

Washington DC-

Today, in response to poster Tolstoy from WebDip, mitt romney has acknowledged the double digit percentage of his supporters that seek the truth and promised to address their concerns in his platform. From now on, airplanes will no longer feature contrails, though some experts believe the suggested method of achieving this, a complete shut down of the jet engine in mid flight, might have negative effects. On the lizard people front, lizard people, especially those who are current members of the Bildebergs must register with authorities. The protocols of the Elders of Zion will hold no sway in US courts of law if congress passes President Romney's legislative program. Finally in a surprise selection, Romney selected John F. Kennedy, alive and well and released from CIA detention, as his Vice President and Tupac Shakur to lead his Urban youth outreach.