Posted on 08/30/2012 11:57:01 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Paul Ryan had never before struck me as an inspiring speaker. I mean, I like the fellow: he has sound ideas, he's charming and he has a demotic, boy-next-door quality which is unusual among cerebral politicians. But his chief appeal has always been as a policy specialist rather than an orator.
Until last night. Ryan's speech to the Republican Convention in Tampa was a masterpiece. As Roger Kimball observes, 'His manner is open, confident, but somehow also humble. There is nothing swaggering, nothing of the braggart or narcissist about him. He seems impressed, not by the sound of his own voice, but by the facts and observations he shares with his listeners'.
Ryan took complex issues – the debt crisis, reform of Medicare, unemployment – and made them simple. He spoke movingly of his home town, the town where he still lives, and of the factory there which Barack Obama had said would be open for another hundred years, but which had closed a year later. He humanised the recession, managing to lay particular emphasis on 'the heartland': the key swing states of the Midwest. College graduates, he said, shouldn't have to live out their twenties in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at their fading Obama posters and wondering when they could move out and get on with life. There was something fundamentally wrong with wanting a society 'where everything is free – except us'.
.....No longer are Americans simply being invited to vote against the government that has presided over the downturn; now they are being given the chance to vote for balanced budgets and recovery. Ryan's newfound eloquence, his ability to convey the urgency of the crisis without sounding hysterical, is a bonus.
Leftist commentators, sensing the danger, have torn into him....
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.telegraph.co.uk ...
Ryan / West 2012
If, “The case for Romney in two words: Paul Ryan” is accurate, then the executive decision made when picking Paul Ryan trumps it.
Despite my differences with Romey, he could have done a hell of a lot worse than Ryan. Kudos for the pick.
The other two words that make the case for Romney.
“Barack Obama”
“Despite my differences with Romey, he could have done a hell of a lot worse than Ryan. Kudos for the pick.”
Well, since Romney wasn’t in the most socialist state in the union trying to govern and had some latitude, I think he did just what I expected him to...follow his mandate. That’s who he is.
There were some freepers here who wanted him to pick a liberal female governor of a blue state for his running mate.
I hope the republican establishment is prepared to go to the mat for Ryan - NO MATTER WHAT - because the left cannot allow him to survive as the party standard barer.
It'll be a chance to redeem themselves for the cowardice they've demonstrated time after time in the past.
I forget ... how'd that turn out?
Except McCain was a career politician with no business or political sense. Romney’s choice of Ryan shows that he can make shrewd decisions.
CEOs need to choose who is right for the job, regardless. Politicians don’t care who is best, but who is the most connected or advantageous to their future. Romney chose perfectly.
The case for third party in two words: “Obama, Romney”
I had to do a double take last night. It was actually a Republican pol with a spine live on my TV.
Please go ahead. Just don’t tell us why.
For all the “wind-driven-snow” conservative Freepers our there who are still having trouble accepting R&R (Romney/Ryan), you may want to take notice of Hannan’s last sentence...
“Mitt Romney isn’t running against Ronald Reagan, for Heaven’s sake; he’s running against Barack Obama. How difficult a decision is that?”
Or as Hannan put it....
“Mitt Romney isn’t running against Ronald Reagan, for Heaven’s sake; he’s running against Barack Obama. How difficult a decision is that?”
Let's hope Mitt's advisers have the sense not to do the same with Paul Ryan.
” Mitt Romney isn’t running against Ronald Reagan, for Heaven’s sake; he’s running against Barack Obama. How difficult a decision is that? “
Hard for some to understand.
Funny. The case for McCain was in two words, and the second one rhymed with sailin’.
What does it take to get a decent candidate on the top of the ticket these days?
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