Mitt Romney To Announce Vice-Presidential Pick Saturday In Virginia, Signs Point To Paul Ryan

Is the the 2012 Republican Presidential ticket? We'll find out Saturday morning.

Breaking late Friday night came news that Mitt Romney would be making his Vice-Presidential pick known at a campaign appearance Saturday morning in Norfolk, Virginia:

(CNN) - Presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will announce his vice presidential candidate Saturday at an event in Virginia, his campaign said.

More from The New York Times:

Mitt Romney is scheduled to announce his vice presidential candidate on Saturday in Norfolk, Va., ending a four-month search for a running mate on the opening day of a four-day bus tour through four critical battleground states.

Mr. Romney is set to disclose the selection at 8:45 a.m. as he tours the USS Wisconsin, the campaign announced Friday evening. Several signs were pointing toward Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as a leading candidate for the position, a choice that would electrify the party’s conservative base and potentially shake up the race with President Obama.

Mr. Romney telephoned other finalists for the position on Friday evening, a senior Republican aide said, and thanked them for their cooperation in the vetting process and their help with his campaign effort. But he did not tell them who he had decided upon.

Since the event is taking place at the kickoff of Romney’s four state bus tour in Norfolk,Virginia near where the USS Wisconsin, a retired battleship, is berthed. The first reaction that many would jump to is that Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell is the pick, but this report from National Review earlier on Friday is causing some to think it might be someone else entirely:

Take note, veep watchers: Earlier today, a charter plane took off  in Boston, stopped in Chicago, then flew to the tiny airport in Janesville, Wis. Janesville, of course, is the hometown of Representative Paul Ryan, a top vice-presidential contender. According to a source on the ground, the plane is still in Wisconsin.

Tomorrow morning, Mitt Romney will visit the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk, Va. For what it’s worth, Ryan is scheduled to be on vacation in Colorado.

You’ll recall that, four years ago, even as the hours were ticking down to when John McCain would be making his announcement of his own VP pick in Dayton, Ohio, people were tracking claims that the choice was Tim Pawlenty and tracking flights from Minneapolis. It wasn’t until mere hours before the announcement that the news began to leak that Sarah Palin was the pick. So, the mere presence of this plane in Wisconsin may mean nothing, or it may just be a diversion. According to reports, Tim Pawlenty is supposed to be appearing at events in New Hampshire, but that’s something that’s easily changed. As for the other potential nominees, there’s no indication where they might be. Obviously, Bob McDonnell is going to be at the kickoff event with Romney so, if it is him, the announcement wouldn’t be all that much of a surprise.

Keeping all that in mind, Bill Kristol has this to say The Weekly Standard:

THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned that the Romney campaign has begun to prepare a vigorous effort in support of Paul Ryan if he is selected as Mitt Romney’s vice presidential pick—something now likely to happen soon. For example, GOP officials tell THE WEEKLY STANDARD that Wisconsin governor Scott Walker is among a group of Republicans who has been asked to be ready, in terms of his schedule and other practical preparations, to make the case publicly for a Romney-Ryan ticket as early as Saturday.

This of course does not mean the Wisconsin congressman will necessarily end up as Romney’s running mate. The Romney campaign may be working to lay the groundwork for one or two other possible picks, though THE WEEKLY STANDARD has been unable to find evidence of any comparable preparation for other candidates. Or the Romney team could be engaging in some last minute misdirection, as other campaigns have done. In 2000, much of the attention in the days before the announcement of Dick Cheney as Bush’s running mate focused on John Danforth, thanks to nudging from inside the campaign. And in 2004, the New York Post splashed on its front page a story indicating that Richard Gephardt would be John Kerry’s running mate. It’s entirely possible that the Romney campaign is engaging in the same kind of shenanigans.

(…)

But if the signs pointing toward Ryan, increasing in number, are meant as a feint, it’s an odd one. Ryan is popular among conservatives and Republicans, and the talk about him is generating lots of excitement in conservative and GOP circles. The campaign would presumably be acting to tamp down Ryan speculation if Ryan weren’t going to be the pick, in order to avoid a sense of letdown if he’s passed over. But the campaign is doing no such thing. Rather, it seems to be preparing observers for Ryan.

We’ll find out in the morning, of course, but if it is Ryan, it’s a surprising choice for many reasons because it’s only been in the past week or so that attention had really shifted to the Wisconsin Congressman. Also unusual is making the announcement on a Saturday morning in the summertime, especially when the Olympics are still on. It doesn’t strike me as timed very well for maximum media attention, although I suppose it will be the topic of discussion on all the Sunday morning news broadcasts.

Tune in tomorrow to see what the word is. The announcement will be made at 8:45am Eastern time.

One final note, I’ve got to give a hat tip to Jeff Quinton, who speculated on Thursday that the kickoff event at the USS Wisconsin would be the time and place of Romney’s announcement, and that it would be either Bob McDonnell or Paul Ryan being announced as the nominee.

Update:  NBC News is reporting that three sources inside the Romney campaign confirm that Ryan will indeed be the person announced as Romney’s running mate tomorrow in Virginia.

FILED UNDER: 2012 Election, US Politics, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Jeremy R says:

    I honestly can’t believe it. It tactically makes no sense to me.

    AARP Tweets:

    https://twitter.com/AARP/status/234140540986347521

    Here are all of the http://AARP.org stories on Paul Ryan: http://ow.ly/cTF1v Ya know, in case anyone is researching.

    From their link, some titles:

    Online Community Blog: Does Paul Ryan think we are too old to see his tricks

    AARP: Budget Would Upend Vital Programs and Shift Costs to Older Americans

    Medicare in the Crosshairs

    Yeah, I’m not believing it until I see the announcement… just seems like madness on the Romney campaign’s part.

  2. Ron Beasley says:

    A hail Mary pass? That’s what Ryan would be and probably Rubio as well. The safest choice would be Portmann – might help in Ohio but probably not much. Rubio is no help and Ryan is toxic. But looking at the Romney campaign performance thus far they will probably make the worst choice.

  3. michael reynolds says:

    Romney still has to kowtow to the far right. Amazing. So much for James’ notion that Mitt is a secret centrist.

  4. Gustopher says:

    Two thoughts.

    First, it is deeply unseemly to use the military as a campaign prop.

    Second, Ryan should have run for President.

  5. Jeremy R says:

    ABC’s Jonathan Karl:

    https://twitter.com/jonkarl/statuses/234142521905782784?tw_i=234142521905782784

    Who it is not: Portman, Pawlenty and Rubio. All told they are not the pick.

  6. Tsar Nicholas says:

    They’re doing this at 6:00 a.m. (EST), on a Saturday, in the dead of summer, during the Olympics??

    Sort of reminds me of Gwar’s ‘Live From Antarctica” farce. I mean, seriously, do these guys have clocks and calendars?

    In any case, if it’s Ryan there’ll be no way to spin it: horrible pick. Not Palin, Kemp or Quayle horrible, granted, but horrible nonetheless. You simply can’t go with a mere congressman from a 10 electoral vote state when you have available statewide office holders from much more critical places on the map.

  7. Tsar Nicholas says:

    Oops, 6:00 a.m. (PST), that is.

  8. KansasMom says:

    The 8:45 announcement time makes no sense. It’s Saturday, people like to sleep in, have a nice breakfast , they may not even turn on their TV until later when the last full day of the Olympics kicks into gear. The weather is nice for the majority of the country for the first time in 2 months and everyone is heading outside. These are small things, but the small things are the kind of things the Romney campaign seem to screw up.

    Oh yeah, I forgot, Ryan is the Zombie Eyed Granny Starver. This is going to be fun!

  9. Gustopher says:

    Third thought: is there some chance that Romney is a secret Democrat sabatuer?

    Unwanted, this will take the focus off Mittens’s taxes, buyout it firmly on the Ryan budget that the house voted for, and that contains something to piss off everyone.

  10. Jeremy R says:

    https://twitter.com/AP/status/234153583996702721

    BREAKING: Republican official: Romney chooses Paul Ryan for running mate -The Associated Press (@AP)

  11. Bennett says:

    @Gustopher: The USS Wisconsin is a museum, not an active duty ship.

  12. jan says:

    It appears the game is on. At least we’ll have some earnest conversation about the economy, along with two men who have a grasp for numbers. Ryan is a risky choice. But, there is certainly no PC with it. It is all about another vision that totally counters the current one that is in place.

  13. michael reynolds says:

    A Mormon and an Objectivist. Hmmm. Two cults? A cult and a half?

  14. Jeremy R says:

    Paul Ryan on Ayn Rand:
    http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/04/audio-surfaces-paul-ryans-effusive-love-ayn-rand/51711/

    “I just want to speak to you a little bit about Ayn Rand and what she meant to me in my life and [in] the fight we’re engaged here in Congress. I grew up on Ayn Rand, that’s what I tell people.”

    “I grew up reading Ayn Rand and it taught me quite a bit about who I am and what my value systems are, and what my beliefs are.”

    “It’s inspired me so much that it’s required reading in my office for all my interns and my staff. We start with Atlas Shrugged. People tell me I need to start with The Fountainhead then go to Atlas Shrugged [laughter]. There’s a big debate about that. We go to Fountainhead, but then we move on, and we require Mises and Hayek as well.”

    “But the reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand.”

    “And when you look at the twentieth-century experiment with collectivism—that Ayn Rand, more than anybody else, did such a good job of articulating the pitfalls of statism and collectivism—you can’t find another thinker or writer who did a better job of describing and laying out the moral case for capitalism than Ayn Rand.”

    “It’s so important that we go back to our roots to look at Ayn Rand’s vision, her writings, to see what our girding, under-grounding [sic] principles are.”

    “Because there is no better place to find the moral case for capitalism and individualism than through Ayn Rand’s writings and works.”

    And some video:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmW19uoyuO8

    ^ Ryan: “I think a lot of people would observe that we are right now living in an Ayn Rand novel, metaphorically speaking.

    Ayn Rand, more than anyone else, did a fantastic job of explaining the morality of capitalism, the morality of individualism.”

    And then, apparently, Ryan discovered she was an atheist: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/297023/ryan-shrugged-robert-costa

    “I reject her philosophy,” Ryan says firmly. “It’s an atheist philosophy. It reduces human interactions down to mere contracts and it is antithetical to my worldview. If somebody is going to try to paste a person’s view on epistemology to me, then give me Thomas Aquinas,” who believed that man needs divine help in the pursuit of knowledge. “Don’t give me Ayn Rand,” he says.

  15. michael reynolds says:

    He was a Rand acolyte and then he “discovered” she was an atheist?

    So we have here another Etch-A-Sketch artist.

  16. An Interested Party says:

    So….for the second time in as many presidential election cycles, the GOP nominee makes a Hail Mary pass for VP, probably achieving the same result as last time…the ads about the gutting of Social Security and Medicare will write themselves…the VP debate will be delicious…

    It is all about another vision that totally counters the current one that is in place.

    A vision that will scare the hell out of many people and ensure the President’s reelection…

  17. labman57 says:

    Romney/Ryan 2012 — yeah! zzzzz

    Romney selected Ryan in large part for his fiscal savvy, the latter being the architect of the GOP’s master budget plan. So let’s take a look at their shared economic philosophy:

    Fiscal conservatives such as Romney and Ryan are primarily interested in two outcomes:
    1) Increasing the income divide between the wealthiest Americans and the rest of society
    2) Increasing profit margins for corporations via lowered taxes and minimized environmental and workplace regulations

    Reducing unemployment is a secondary issue — if said corporations opt to use their increased profits to hire additional employees, that’s their prerogative.

    Alas, historical evidence overwhelming demonstrates that increased corporate profits do not translate into increased hiring — increased demand for goods and services does.
    And, of course, increased demand requires increased purchasing power by that subset of society which does the majority of the purchasing, i.e., the middle class.

    And yet the budget plan championed by Romney and Ryan is designed to shift the federal tax burden further away from the ultra-wealthy toward the middle class. Go figure.

    Furthermore, virtually every nonpartisan economist has confirmed that the Romney/Ryan budget plan contains impossible to attain, mutually-exclusive goals — cutting taxes on corporations and upper class Americans while simultaneously reducing the federal deficit. Must be the new math!

    In addition, Ryan and his fellow health insurance lobby lackeys in the Republican Party have taken a “General MacArthur” approach to destroying our nation’s Medicare system. His plan will not make it immediately die — he simply wants it to slowly fade away.
    … and with it the ability of future senior citizens to obtain affordable chronic condition treatment and preventative health care.

    Once again, the tea party tail wags the GOP dog … and the middle class gets stuck with cleaning up the lawn.

  18. Neil Hudelson says:

    Why in hell would Ryan say yes?

  19. Moderate Mom says:

    Myself, I think Rubio might have been a better pick, but my kids have shocked me. Both of them, in their early twenties, are excited at the prospect of Ryan being Romney’s running mate. My son texted me that, if this is true, Romney’s got his vote. My daughter says that Ryan as VP has her leaning towards Romney. I wonder if other kids in their twenties are going to feel the same way?

  20. Spindle789 says:

    It’s got to be Ryan. Mitt Romney’s campaign bus was spotted en route to Virginia from Wisconsin with Paul Ryan strapped to the roof.

  21. swbarnes2 says:

    @michael reynolds:

    He was a Rand acolyte and then he “discovered” she was an atheist?

    He’s a Republican. He retroactively rejected her atheistic philosophy. Republicans do that.

  22. Moderate Mom says:

    @Spindle789:

    Getting your Fareed on? That one was on twitter hours ago.

  23. michael reynolds says:

    @Moderate Mom:

    You are absolutely the funniest person on this site.

    Your kids are excited. Ah hah hah hah! Excellent.

  24. anjin-san says:

    two men who have a grasp for numbers.

    Ah numbers. Number of senior citizens with Medicare after four years of Romney/Ryan – zero.

  25. Moderate Mom says:

    @michael reynolds:

    What’s so funny? I’ve got two kids, a 24 year old daughter with a Masters working as a project manager for a graphic design firm and a 21 year old gay son that is planning on going into television or film production. Both very socially liberal, by just about any measure, but both are worried about their future and tend to be fairly conservative on fiscal matters. Or do you not think that it is possible to be liberal in some areas and conservative in others?

    I just thought it was interesting that both were very enthusiastic about Ryan. My daughter was pretty enthusiastic about John Edwards before the scandal, so she might be a little schizo in her political leanings. That, or she just likes fairly nice looking politicians. 🙂

  26. anjin-san says:

    @ Moderate Mom

    Maybe you and Jan can take a straw poll of your relatives and declare Ronmney the winner by acclimation.

    On a serious note, if Romney is going for a Hail Mary at this early date, it is a sobering statement for Republicans about just how bad things have gotten for Mitt’s campaign, and how quickly it is going south.

    For a guy who is supposed to be a weakling empty suit, Obama has just pummeled Romney for the last 6 weeks. The ability to do a little ass kicking now and then is not a bad trait for a leader to have. I still smile when I think about Obama scraping Romney’s pal Donald Trump off the bottom of his shoe.

  27. michael reynolds says:

    @Moderate Mom:

    Sweetie, you’re a transparent troll. You’re some low-level GOP or SuperPAC drone who goes out to seed comments on blogs. Tonight’s assignment: pretend “the youth” will love Ryan.

    Unfortunately you kind of suck at the job.

  28. Dazedandconfused says:

    My cross dressing 20 year old lumberjack son texted that he is leaning towards voting for Romney now too. He’s OK. He likes Ron Paul.

  29. MarkedMan says:

    @Spindle789: OK, I just spit my coffee across the room…

  30. anjin-san says:

    @ michael reynolds

    You are such a cynic, and so wrong. Across America, millions of young people are racing to download the “Mitt’s VP app.” The excitement is real, and it is building by the hour – something you would be aware of if you knew any young people.

    I think I can probably get a job writing some copy for the Mittster…

  31. EddieInCA says:

    @Moderate Mom:

    and a 21 year old gay son that is planning on going into television or film production. Both very socially liberal, by just about any measure, but both are worried about their future and tend to be fairly conservative on fiscal matters.

    As someone who has worked in Film/TV Production for better than 25 years, I can tell you that there isn’t a gay 21 year old on the planet working in Film and TV that would vote for Romney based on the VP pick.

    Romney: “Extreme Conservative” (His words, not mine.)

    Gay 21 year old. “Hey, the Extreme Conservative just chose another extreme conservative as his running mate. I think I’ll switch my vote from the guy who doesn’t want to make me a second class citizen to the two guys that do.”

    Yeah, that makes sense.

  32. anjin-san says:

    21 year old gay son

    Wait, wait. Your gay son is excited about the GOP ticket? Well, you had better run right out to Chick fil a and celebrate Mitt’s big announcement.

    Again, on a serious note. As you may know, I live near San Francisco. I have some gay friends who are wonderful guys. I think your son should talk to them – they will tell you what it’s like when the person you love most in the world is in the hospital dying, and you have no legal standing or rights whatsoever. They will tell you about the pain of being a second class citizen who is not free to marry the person they choose to be with. That’s Mitt Romney & Ryan Paul’s America. They will tell him a lot of things he obviously needs to hear.

  33. MarkedMan says:

    Ryan. As a strong Obama supporter I actually hoped it would be Ryan but assumed that even Romney could not be that stupid. The public is beginning to get the impression of Romney as a clueless rich guy who favors the wealthy and has no empathy whatsoever for the little guy. His one saving grace is that he had no record that proved that. So what does he do? Pick as VP the Republican standard bearer for that viewpoint, one that has a very real and very public record.

    This is what happens when you live inside the Fox Wingnut bubble. These people actually believe that if only more people know about Ryan’s plans they will see it as true wisdom. The reality is that Romney is now going to spend the next two and half months defending his VP against charges he wants to dramatically cut taxes on the wealthy, raise them on the middle class and gut Medicare. In between refusing to release his tax returns. Prediction: two weeks after the convention they will be completely locked up inside the Fox Wingnut Media Circus Tent. They will be afraid to appear on Jay Leno much less give an interview to a real reporter.

  34. MarkedMan says:

    So, “Moderate Mom”, how does this actually work? Are you, what, like some twenty year old male Romney campaign volunteer and some of the “wise old elders” gave you the wink-wink-nudge-nudge and told you that it would really help the campaign if someone like a moderate mom with two socially liberal but fiscally conservative kids started posting to blogs that had a high level of undecideds, well, that could turn the campaign your mans way? Or are you a 38 year old male with anger management issues and Rush-bo blasting away all day and you came up with this idea all by your clever self? Because you know something, you are really really bad at it.

    “I wonder if other kids in their twenties will feel the same way?” Give me an effing break…

  35. superdestroyer says:

    Who Romney picked as his running mate could possibly matter if there was any chance that Romney could win. However, since Romney is having to campaign in Virginia, it would be apparent to everyone that Romney has no chance of winning.

    Even if President Obama was caught in bed with a young boy, President Obama is going to win.

    It should be apparent by now that this presidential election is now about the Democratic Party and Republican Party nominee. This election, as David Axelrod intends, is about raising taxes and increasing government spending and the higher tax side is going to win in a rout.

    However, I suspect that the wonks and wannabes will managed to distract themselves with Paul Ryan, polling data, and pointless issues instead of focusing on policy, issues, and governance. Elections are not about issues because those who have political power do not want elections to be about issues.

  36. spindle789 says:

    @Moderate Mom: Twitter? I had no idea. I stole it directly from Balloon Juice. They have all the best stuff there. I don’t really twit so much. Maybe they stoled it from the twitteratti. I’ll go check.

  37. spindle789 says:

    @superdestroyer: Yes, but what if that “young boy” is Paul Ryan? What say you then?

  38. C. Clavin says:

    Two fiscal frauds…grifters…trying to pass off mathematically impossible economics on America.
    Excellent. David Axelrod’s job just got easier by a factor of 10.

  39. C. Clavin says:

    Has there ever been a smarmier ticket???

    http://m.urbandictionary.com/#define?term=smarmy

  40. Commonist says:

    Hey Moderate Mom, you know Ryan deemed one of your children unworthy of serving his country in the army if he dared to stick his nose out of the closet, right?

    Some parent you are.

  41. C. Clavin says:

    These two, if elected, would make the Bush Presidency look like a roaring success.

  42. superdestroyer says:

    @C. Clavin:

    If you believe that David Axelrod’s real job is to transfer as much wealth as possible to core groups in the Democratic Party, then yes, Axelrod’s job is getting easier. Of course, the demographics changes in the U.S. were going to make the job easier no matter what.

    The real question is what is the long term impact of Axelrod being successful in changing the U.S. into a one-party-state built around the idea of Chicago politics.

  43. steve says:

    @Michael- I suspect Moderate Mom is making a good point. Ryan looks good on TV. He projects a youthful image. Like it or not, image matters. Bush probably beat Gore because he seemed more like the guy you would drink a beer with if the polls are to be believed.

    He will make a formidable VP candidate. He is bright and quick on his feet. He rattles off numbers well and sounds convincing. You need to be very well versed in economic data to see through his claims.

    Steve

  44. Rick Almeida says:

    @superdestroyer:

    If by “core groups in the Democratic Party”, you mean “the bottom 90% of income earners”, you probably have a point.

  45. C. Clavin says:

    Ryan’s father died when he was 16. Ryan then recieved survivor benefits from SS until he was 18…which he used to pay for college. We all helped Ryan…he didn’t get there by himself. But now he wants to pull the ladder up behind him. F’ the middle class. He has his six bedroom eight-bath house, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. No help for you.

  46. C. Clavin says:

    @ Steve…

    “…Bush probably beat Gore because he seemed more like the guy you would drink a beer with if the polls are to be believed…”

    If anything Bush beat Gore because he had better lawyers…and a SCOTUS stacked with Republicans willing to put party over country…who invented a one-time-only ruling.
    http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/06/yes-bush-v-gore-did-steal-the-election.html

  47. PJ says:

    @C. Clavin:

    he didn’t get there by himself.

    Depends. Exactly how did Ryan’s father die?

    Actually.

    Ryan was 16 years old when he found his father in bed, dead from a heart attack at age 55. Ryan’s grandfather and great-grandfather had also died from heart attacks, at ages 57 and 59 respectively.

    59,57,55.
    So, 53 then?

  48. Commonist says:

    ANDROID / RANDROID 2012

    “BECAUSE BEING BORN RICH IS THE SAME AS WORKING HARD.”

  49. A says:

    So all I feel like this does is get liberals fired up; turn off the older vote from Romney; alienates independents; doesn’t bring anything in terms of winning a swing state; ties the house and presidential races together; solidifies the votes of people that were going to hold their noses and vote for Romney anyway; and turns off center-right people who were on the fence (see Frum) Did I miss anything?

  50. C. Clavin says:

    @ moderate mom…

    “…both are worried about their future and tend to be fairly conservative on fiscal matters…”

    Then they should be voting for Obama…the closest thing to a conservative in the race. True conservatives do not pursue mathematically impossible economics like Romney and Ryan do.

  51. DRS says:

    I agree with Neil H. above: why would Paul Ryan agree? Daniel Larison’s theory is that his VP-ship would mean handing over the Romney presidency to Ryan’s faction and making sure that the Mittster “stays the course”. If that’s the case, I hope Ann brings a food-taster to the WH – it could be an uncomfortable four years for her husband.

  52. C. Clavin says:

    ROMNEY/RYAN ’12
    Mathematically Impossible

    Now there’s a bumper sticker I could put on my truck.

  53. jukeboxgrad says:

    Everyone knows that Ryan is a lot smarter than Palin, but this will still be remembered as a choice that was just as dumb.

  54. rudderpedals says:

    Nothing says “My hand was forced” like buckling late on a Friday night. The zombie eyed granny starver (ht Pierce) contingent isn’t that big.

  55. superdestroyer says:

    @Rick Almeida:

    I doubt the wealth transference will help middle class whites who work in the private sector. Their taxes will go up. The private sector will shrink. They will be ineligible for government set asides such as 8A contracting or quota hires.

    I doubt if the rapid credentialism caused by quotas, set asides, and unlimited immigration is going to help the middle class. However, it is great for academics and public sector employees. I doubt if the race-based school discipline is going to help middle class whites or Asians. However, it is great for the most loyal Democratic Party voters.

    No, the Obama Administration is organized to help blacks, homosexuals, lawyers, academics, and the upper classes in large cities. It does not do much for middle class whites that work in the private sector: higher taxes, higher unemployment, lower standard of living, poorer schools, more sprawl, etc.

  56. jukeboxgrad says:

    anjin-san:

    For a guy who is supposed to be a weakling empty suit, Obama has just pummeled Romney for the last 6 weeks. The ability to do a little ass kicking now and then is not a bad trait for a leader to have.

    This is a key point, and it summarizes the whole story of the campaign. It’s the meta-story.

    I think this is the most important word to describe Mitt: ‘weak.’ He never misses a chance to present himself as a WATB. Picking Ryan is yet another act of transparent weakness. Mitt has ‘weak’ oozing out of his pores. It’s written all over him. This is a fatal flaw; no one wants to vote for a POTUS who is ‘weak.’

    Look at Carter, Dukakis and Kerry. The loser was the person who was made to look weak. Mitt is truly and deeply weak, so he’s in the process of joining that list.

  57. jukeboxgrad says:

    Maybe Mitt decided he doesn’t need Catholics (link):

    Ryan has been under a steady hail of criticism from Catholic groups over his budget. The U.S. Conference of Bishops similarly denounced his spending plan in the spring, arguing that it “fails to meet” the moral principles of the Catholic Church.

    Mitt already looks like a narcissist/sociopath with no sense of empathy. Picking Ryan just underlines that.

  58. Neil Hudelson says:

    @superdestroyer:

    the Obama Administration is organized to help blacks, homosexuals, lawyers, academics, Andrews the upper classes in large cities.

    You’re close but off thd mark just slightly. The.Obama administration is actually designed to help one black homosexual academic lawyer in a large city. Eugene Riley, an African American homosexual lawyer living in Brooklyn who has his own marginally successful law firm that allows him to live the middle class lifestyle. He teaches at a local community college in his free time.

    Anyone else who is helped by the administrations pro-eugene riley programs is just coincidence.

  59. Jenos Idanian #13 says:

    @Moderate Mom: MM, you’re playing their game.

    They attack you to make you defend yoruself. And when you’re defending, you’re losing.

    Instead, hit back. Demand they rationalize Obama’s brilliance in putting a marginally-functional f*cktard like Joe Biden in the #2 seat. Ask them to predict how Joey Plugs will do in the debates. Remind them that he only appeared to beat Palin (PALIN!) by basically lying his ass off and making up shit left, right, and center without being called on it at the time — Ryan won’t do that.

    Biden’s gonna look like a baby seal, and Ryan’s got a big ol’ Louisville Slugger.

  60. @Jenos Idanian #13:

    Demand they rationalize Obama’s brilliance in putting a marginally-functional f*cktard like Joe Biden in the #2 seat.

    No need to rationalize anything. The only people who get that upset about Joe are crazy or Republican base … but I repeat myself.

  61. jukeboxgrad says:

    jenos:

    lying his ass off and making up shit left, right, and center

    What a great description of both you and person you cited. His style is just like yours: make a long series of factual claims supported by zero citations. Here’s just one example of a false claim he made:

    Biden falsely said Palin supported a windfall profits tax in Alaska … it’s not a windfall profits tax.

    Naturally. That’s why WSJ and various other conservatives described it as a windfall profits tax. Here’s what WSJ said:

    Palin has also taken stands on energy that deviate from many Republicans. In 2007, she signed a windfall profits tax for oil production that has sent billions of dollars to Alaskan coffers, but which oil executives complain will stem new production in the state.

    Steve Moore is the founder of the Club for Growth. Here’s what he said about Palin’s oil tax:

    I’m not so comforted by this idea of what she did on the oil tax. It does look to me, Paul, very much like a windfall profits tax. And I suspect that if she were a liberal Democrat, conservatives would be attacking her for that.

    Here’s what Ed Morrissey of Hot Air said about Palin’s tax:

    Palin backed Alaskan windfall-profits tax

    (Emphasis added.) I know this is way off topic, but I did this work years ago, and it’s yet another wonderful opportunity (one more in a very long series) to show how you and your sources are always “lying [your] ass off and making up shit left, right, and center.”

  62. anjin-san says:

    If anything Bush beat Gore because he had better lawyers

    I would say that it was because he had James Baker III in the war room, and one of the things Baker did was get Bush better lawyers. Despite the tragic outcome, you have to admire Baker’s skill. It’s a damn shame that he did not end up calling the shots in the Bush administration, and Cheney and Rove did.

  63. al-Ameda says:

    @Jenos Idanian #13:

    Instead, hit back. Demand they rationalize Obama’s brilliance in putting a marginally-functional f*cktard like Joe Biden in the #2 seat.

    Translation: “I sure hope Democrats don’t bring up privatizing Medicare.”

  64. al-Ameda says:

    @superdestroyer:

    No, the Obama Administration is organized to help blacks, homosexuals, lawyers, academics, and the upper classes in large cities. It does not do much for middle class whites that work in the private sector: higher taxes, higher unemployment, lower standard of living, poorer schools, more sprawl, etc.

    You left out Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, and Orly Taitz.

  65. David M says:

    I really thought this initial story was a head fake, but apparently the Romney campaign really wants to campaign on ending Social Security and Medicare. Who knew?

  66. anjin-san says:

    marginally-functional f*cktard like Joe Biden

    “Marginally functional” – This is coming from Jenos, a guy who steadfastly refuses to tell us anything about his life in the real world. I wonder what accomplishments Indy has under his belt that allow to be so disdainful of someone who has, love him or hate him, put together an impressive career in politics.

    Yes, Biden is a loose canon and something of a goofball, but by all accounts he is decent guy, and it is actually pretty hard to get elected to statewide and national office.

    Its a small man that won’t give a little credit when credit is due.

  67. An Interested Party says:

    Biden’s gonna look like a baby seal, and Ryan’s got a big ol’ Louisville Slugger.

    You, of course, are delusional…all Biden has to do is talk about Ryan’s plans for Social Security and Medicare and the rest will take care of itself…

  68. Jenos Idanian #13 says:

    @john personna: But in such a RAAAAACIST country like America, aren’t you worried about some right-wing extremist assassinating Obama and putting Biden in the Oval Office?

    And if the veep is meaningless, why were you so hysterical about Palin?

  69. Jenos Idanian #13 says:

    @anjin-san: “Marginally functional” – This is coming from Jenos, a guy who steadfastly refuses to tell us anything about his life in the real world.

    Not even taking into account the sheer stupidity of sharing personal information with such a hostile crowd, why is my meatspace existence any of your goddamned business? I certainly have less than zero interest in your personal details; I can’t grasp why you don’t reciprocate.

    And I think I have good reason. The convicted terrorist and perjurer Brett Kimberlin is on the left, and it’s conservatives that get SWATted and hauled into court (or jail) on totally specious grounds. I’d be dumber than WR to set myself up for that — and the apple of Momma Idanian’s eye ain’t that dumb.

    Fact: Joe Biden is a serial fabricator and plagiarist, a shitty Catholic, and one of the dumbest people ever to serve in Congress. However, I was glad when he became Veep, because it took him away from where he did all kinds of harm, stuck him in a powerless office, and pretty much guaranteed that he’d never hold any other public office ever again.

    Remember, folks, Joey Plugs voted AGAINST the 1991 Gulf War, FOR the invasion of Iraq, and AGAINST the surge. And that’s just one area where the rule “if you don’t know what to do, just see where Biden is standing and assume that it’s the dumb position” has been proven, over and over and over again.

  70. An Interested Party says:

    And if the veep is meaningless, why were you so hysterical about Palin?

    Hysterical with laughter…

    And I think I have good reason. The convicted terrorist and perjurer Brett Kimberlin is on the left, and it’s conservatives that get SWATted and hauled into court (or jail) on totally specious grounds. I’d be dumber than WR to set myself up for that — and the apple of Momma Idanian’s eye ain’t that dumb.

    He may not be that dumb, but he sure does play the victim to perfection…

    Remember, folks, Joey Plugs voted AGAINST the 1991 Gulf War, FOR the invasion of Iraq, and AGAINST the surge. And that’s just one area where the rule “if you don’t know what to do, just see where Biden is standing and assume that it’s the dumb position” has been proven, over and over and over again.

    Despite all of that, Paul Ryan is still more of a liability to the GOP ticket than Biden is to the Democratic ticket…after all, “Joey Plugs” doesn’t want to destroy Social Security and Medicare…

  71. Jenos Idanian #13 says:

    @An Interested Party: To steal a very good line from Instapundit: “You know what will kill Social Security as we know it? Social Security as we know it.”

    Then again, expecting people who think that it’s cool to borrow 40% of federal spending to grasp that is seriously absurd…

  72. An Interested Party says:

    Then again, expecting people who think that it’s cool to borrow 40% of federal spending to grasp that is seriously absurd…

    Among those people, you need look no further than Republicans themselves (including Ryan), as they had no problem borrowing throughout the Bush years…in addition to Ryan being a hypocrite in that he wants to deny benefits to others that helped him when he was younger, he also has become such a budget hawk after voting for deficit-financed bills like Medicare Part D…

  73. jukeboxgrad says:

    jenos:

    Fact: Joe Biden is a serial fabricator

    Fact: I showed proof that your source fabricated a fact, and you’re acting like you didn’t notice. Which is what you usually do when your lies are exposed. The serial fabricator is you.

    people who think that it’s cool to borrow 40% of federal spending

    You must he thinking of Cheney, who said “deficits don’t matter.” Or maybe you’re thinking of Saint Ronnie, who tripled the debt. Or maybe you’re thinking of Paul Ryan, who voted for Medicare Part D even though it “added $15.5 trillion (in present value terms) to our nation’s indebtedness.”

    The GOP runs on amnesia and lies. You’re good at both.

  74. superdestroyer says:

    @anjin-san:

    What hurt the Democrats was pushing for recounts only in the counties where a recount would hlep the Democrats and then insisting on different standards of voting in each county.

    Every federal count agreed with the Republicans. Only the Democratic Party majority Florida Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Democratic Party’s plan.

  75. superdestroyer says:

    @al-Ameda:

    I guess one could argue that Hollywood celebrities are one of the groups that benefits from having the Democrats in control. Hollywood is overwhelmingly Democratic Party supporters and takes advantage of the complex tax laws that the Democrats love.

  76. superdestroyer says:

    @An Interested Party:

    Of course after the stupid borrowing and spending, Bush left office with a 20% approval rating and made the U.S. effectively a one-party-state.

    I just wish that the Democrats would care as much about deficits and debt now as they claimed to care during the Bush II Administration.

  77. jukeboxgrad says:

    Of course after the stupid borrowing and spending, Bush left office with a 20% approval rating

    Republicans never stopped approving of Bush (at least while he was in office). Take a look at Pew, 6/4/07. Bush’s approval rating among Republicans was 65% (“the lowest mark of his presidency”).

    Here’s Gallup, 5/8/06:

    Bush’s fall is being fueled by erosion among support from conservatives and Republicans. In the poll, 52% of conservatives and 68% of Republicans approved of the job he is doing. Both are record lows among those groups.

    Here’s Gallup, 11/15/05:

    A large majority of Republicans — 80 percent — approve of Bush’s performance

    Bush’s support (among Republicans) was never significantly lower than 64% (at least while he was in office). Most Republicans approved of Bush and the Republicans in Congress even while the GOP was in the process of increasing the national debt by 84%. As late as 2005, Republican approval of Bush was above 80%. He had that high support in 2005 even though it was already clear by then that he was a big spender. This history proves that Republicans believe in fiscal restraint only when the president is someone other than a Republican.

    I just wish that the Democrats would care as much about deficits and debt now as they claimed to care during the Bush II Administration.

    I just wish that the Republicans had cared as much about deficits and debt during the Bush II Administration as much as they claim to care now. And of course Ryan himself is an outstanding example. Ryan’s track record shows that he doesn’t care about the debt. He voted over and over again to help Bush explode the debt. He voted for Medicare Part D, the Iraq war, TARP, and the auto bailout. As Larison has pointed out:

    He supported adding significantly to the government’s long-term liabilities without making any effort to pay for them, and now he is supposed to be the voice of fiscal sanity?

    As I said, the GOP runs on amnesia and lies.

  78. Jenos Idanian #13 says:

    @jukeboxgrad: anjin expressed interest in my meatspace life. I’d be curious to know what you do for a job. Because I’m trying to imagine any kind of occupation that you could hold on to with the way you think.

    I cited a list of 14 Biden statements that were judged false. You took one of those, found some sources that said they disagreed that the judgment, and then acted like you’d debunked every single one of them.

    And that was just one incident. The list of Biden’s misstatements, gaffes, fumbles, and outright fabrications is legendary. Biden said that after the 1929 stock market crash, FDR went on TV to reassure the nation. Biden lied about his first wife’s death, saying she was killed by a drunk driver — but the police report clearly said alcohol was NOT a factor. He lied about his college record, claiming honors he never won.

    The only explanation I can think of is that Biden is so amiable, people just make allowances for Slow Joe and cut him slack. That there’s no malice in Biden’s lies — he’s so stupid, he actually believes his own BS.

  79. David M says:

    @Jenos Idanian #13: Ace of Spades is not a fact checking organization. The clue that gave that fact away was the lack of links in the post “listing” the Biden lies.

  80. Jenos Idanian #13 says:

    @David M: Ace was the first site I found for a citation. And I invoke the Harry Reid precedent — let others disprove the allegations.

    Seriously… they’re all public record. Jukie found one to quibble with (and pronounced that sufficient to discredit the entire list — a laughable assertion, but he manages to do that with such a virtual straight face, it’s adorable). The rest of the assertions? He’s pretending they don’t exist.

  81. jukeboxgrad says:

    You took one of those, found some sources that said they disagreed

    I proved that the claim is false. You and your source have shown this much evidence to support the claim: none. So come back when you have some.

    and then acted like you’d debunked every single one of them

    I’ve explained this to you several times, but you still don’t understand. You and your source made those claims. Therefore the burden is on you to show proof that they are true. Your source provided this many citations: zero. I proved that one claim is false, which means it’s reasonable to presume that other claims are false, too.

    He has no credibility. Neither do you.

    I invoke the Harry Reid precedent — let others disprove the allegations.

    If any of those “others” are running for president, you might have some kind of point.

  82. anjin-san says:

    @ Super

    What hurt the Democrats was pushing for recounts only in the counties where a recount would hlep the Democrats and then insisting on different standards of voting in each county.

    I agree that cherry picking was a boneheaded move. Gore should have never conceeded that night, and he should have immediately called for a statewide recount.

    @ Jenos

    Ah, I see. Left wing swat teams are waiting to kick you door in and drag you off to the FEMA reeducation camps. They just need your address.

    I think you vastly overestimate how much anyone cares about you. But, once again, its noteworthy how angry you get when the question of whether or not you have accomplished anything in life comes up.