GOP pros fret over Paul Ryan (all the right people are nervous!)

Politico ^

[cotton1706]

You’ve heard them on television and read them on POLITICO — cheerful, defiant statements from Republican political professionals about Mitt Romney’s bold masterstroke in tapping Paul Ryan as his running mate, and turning the 2012 presidential race into a serious, far-reaching debate about budgets and the nation’s future.

Don’t buy it.

Away from the cameras, and with all the usual assurances that people aren’t being quoted by name, there is an unmistakable consensus among Republican operatives in Washington: Romney has taken a risk with Ryan that has only a modest chance of going right — and a huge chance of going horribly wrong.

In more than three dozen interviews with Republican strategists and campaign operatives — old hands and rising next-generation conservatives alike — the most common reactions to Ryan ranged from gnawing apprehension to hair-on-fire anger that Romney has practically ceded the election.

It is not that the public professions of excitement about the Ryan selection are totally insincere. It is that many of the most optimistic Republican operatives will privately acknowledge that their views are being shaped more by fingers-crossed hope than by a hard-headed appraisal of what’s most likely to happen.

And the more pessimistic strategists don’t even feign good cheer: They think the Ryan pick is a disaster for the GOP. Many of these people don’t care that much about Romney — they always felt he faced an improbable path to victory — but are worried that Ryan’s vocal views about overhauling Medicare will be a millstone for other GOP candidates in critical House and Senate races.

[Lazamataz]

This is Politico, a wholely-owned subsidy of the Obama 2012 Campaign.

Every word they write is a lie, including 'and' and 'the'.

[Graewoulf]

BUMP!

[DarthVader]

I got the same impression that Romney went rogue when I heard the speeches they made this past weekend.

[TornadoAlley3]

Their source is CNN’s Candy Crowley.

[MestaMachine]

Maybe, just maybe, Ryan actually turned Romney. He seems to have that effect on people.

[Mountain Mary]

Don’t you mean you are impressed with Ryan and therefore Romney for choosing him? :-)

[Buckeye McFrog]

Mitt should just announce that Sarah Palin is going to be his new UN Ambassador and get all of the coronaries out of the way right now...

[sportutegrl]

Since I am not going to click over to Polutico. Who are the names mentioned?

" . . . and with all the usual assurances that people aren’t being quoted by name . . . "

[ScottinVA]

That’s because these unnamed Republican “professionals” are jurassic, establishmentarian types with very low risk tolerance. The arrival of a guy like Ryan onto their playground upsets their zone of complacent comfort.

Screw them. This is the team we have going forward.

[ScottinVA]

And the more pessimistic strategists don’t even feign good cheer: They think the Ryan pick is a disaster for the GOP.

So does that mean they're going to join Jon Huntsman as featured speakers at the DNC?

[ScottinVA]

It means Romney-Ryan can run on principles and provide some real direction and vision for the Republican Party. And probably lose. Maybe big,” said former President George W. Bush senior adviser Mark McKinnon.

Well jeeze... we can't have them running on "principles" now, can we?...

[ConservativeDude]

Romney still has some ground to make up in Ohio, Florida, Nevada, NH, Iowa and a few others. But when he does that, and he will, because this is now a race about issues and Romney is saying the right things (to the chagrin of know-it-all-freepers who despise Romney...), but when he does that, the relevant state polls are going to fall into place.

Nationally, Romney is going to win 53-47.

Electorally, he will win by enough. I am not ready at all to say “landslide” but he will win.

In my opinion, as of today, based upon current polling data and a sense of where his campaign is going, where obama’s campaign isn’t going, and based upon previous election cycles.

So that’s my prediction....(though I sure like landslide better...).

[BobL]

Yea, I think Howard Baker would have a better pick. He understands the intricacies of foreign policy and can negotiate a treaty on candle making with his eyes closed.

Yep, he would have been a perfect pick to excite the base. Yep.

[Chief901]

The GOPe is worried that if the grassroots keeps this up, the Tea Party will have major influence in the GOP!!!

[Blackyce]

"And the more pessimistic strategists don’t even feign good cheer: They think the Ryan pick is a disaster for the GOP. Many of these people don’t care that much about Romney — they always felt he faced an improbable path to victory — but are worried that Ryan’s vocal views about overhauling Medicare will be a millstone for other GOP candidates in critical House and Senate races."

Rush Limbaugh
November 10, 2011


I think they are more concerned, our consultants, with holding the House and winning the Senate. I think they believe (deep down in the depths of their souls) that Obama can't be beat. I think they look at Mitt Romney as the single only hope we have of taking the Senate even if he loses the presidential race.
...
I do believe that in some cases (and I'm not prepared to name names right now) on our side they would rather Obama win than a full-throated conservative beat him, because they don't control the conservatives. They don't control the Tea Party; they don't control where that victorious conservative candidate would come from.
...
I'm just telling you how the inside the Beltway consultants think on our side. These are not my thoughts right now. I'm telling you how our guys are thinking. So they're thinking we could lose the House. I guarantee you they are thinking, "With the wrong presidential candidate we could lose the House, not to mention lose the White House race." Well, they don't want to lose the House. They want to win the Senate. They think Obama's gonna get reelected and that's the best way to stop him is to have both houses: House and Senate.
...
And they look at Romney as, "Eh, cool. He's a moderate; he's not total ribald conservative," but they think because sounds intelligent and he's smooth talker now (he doesn't have many gaffes), that he can, while losing the race for the presidency, still bring off a number of victorious Senate and House raises. Now, I think the only way to pull it off with Romney is if sufficient and consistent pressure is brought on him to run on conservative policies. Like Daniel Henninger said in the Wall Street Journal about three weeks or a month ago: "You're gonna have to constantly push Romney to the right. That's not where he naturally lives," and so you're gonna have to push him to run on conservative policies and produce and project a distinguishable contrast with Obama. http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2011/11/10/gop_eyes_senate_not_wh_in_2012

[Qbert]

"Here we go again. The "unamed" "Republican" sources trashing the Conservative, just like they did to Sarah Palin. These RINO jerks are setting Ryan (the Conservative) up to be the fall-guy in the event anything goes askew."

It's coming from Pullotico- they lost what little credibility they had after they were caught repeatedly making up quotes. (Former Pullotico chief/DNC lackey Ben Smith is now doing the same thing with his new outfit, BuzzFeed).

[ontap]

They're the same rinos who never really liked Ronald Reagan.....they only tolerated him because he was the most popular president in the 20th century.

[el_texicano]

Ditto to your comments. I am so sick of the gutless, pandering of RINOs.

And don’t even get me started on the McVain attacks on Bachmann. McVain is the epitome of lowlifes in the Republican party.

[CatherineofAragon]

John Boehner talked to Greta last night. He said (and I feel myself getting angry again just typing this) that Ryan is a conservative guy, but not so much that he’s a, quote, “knuckledragger.” Boehner went on to illustrate by saying Ryan voted for TARP because he was smart enough to realize we needed it to save the country.

Apparently he thought he was doing Ryan a favor.....

[el_texicano]

I smell McVain in all this. Yes, these backstabbing traitors need to be ferreted out and humiliated.