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For well over a week now, the folks on MSNBC have been throwing conniption fits over the selection of Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney's running mate. On Thursday, Hardball host Chris Matthews actually said, "They’ve created a real Frankenstein’s monster in putting this guy on the ticket" (video follows with transcript and commentary): Chris Matthews: Romney 'Created a Real Frankenstein’s Monster Putting Ryan on the Ticket' CHRIS MATTHEWS: This is the last thing the Republican ticket wanted to be talking about. They’ve got a time bomb here that they thought they were just going to talk about the economy and...

Election 2012: Mitt Romney's selection of the House Budget Committee chairman as his running mate focuses the 2012 choice as one between progressive chaos and capitalist growth, budgetary control and job creation. Speaking at the 2010 health care summit, Paul Ryan, after documenting the fiscal disaster of ObamaCare and exposing its budgetary "gimmicks," told President Obama, "if you think they (the American people) want a government takeover of health care, I would respectfully submit you're not listening to them." American voters made that point perfectly clear that November, turning control of the House to the GOP. When Romney picked the...

UPDATE:: NBC News has three sources telling the network that Rep. Paul Ryan, (R) Wisconsin, is Mitt Romney's choice for Vice President. Also the National Review reports the following: 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.

“Romney will announce his choice for Vice President in Norfolk, Virginia at 8:45am EST,” Romney campaign spokesman Lenny Alcivar told reporters in an email this evening. The announcement is being made at the USS Wisconsin. It’s still unclear whom he will choose, but the odds that it is Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., seemed to increase when National Review’s Robert Costa noted that a charter plane flew from Boston to Ryan’s hometown of Janesville, Wis., today.

Months after he clinched the Republican nomination, Mitt Romney is still struggling to win over skeptical conservatives. And the longer he waits to name a running mate, the more time conservative activists have to try to coax him to name one of their own—such as Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan. … Romney's latest problem with conservatives flowed from a spokeswoman's reflections this week on the benefits of the Massachusetts health care law. That Romney-proposed law remains a touchy topic, since it was a model for President Barack Obama's health care overhaul—which Romney now condemns. …

Heard through my sources: Romney's plane supposedly en route to pick up Paul Ryan....he's the veep choice.

Carl Cameron saying VP announced in morning at 9 am. He is saying it sounds like Paul Ryan

These days, you hear it everywhere — from Republican donors and veteran operatives, and at Capitol Hill watering holes. A few weeks ago, it was a wishful rumor floating in the Beltway ether. Now, sources close to the Romney campaign say it’s for real, that the taciturn former Massachusetts governor is quietly warming to the idea. Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the budget king of the GOP, may be Mitt Romney’s veep. “Ryan is very highly respected not only by the candidate, but by Romney’s policy shop,” says Tom Rath, a Romney adviser. “Beyond the political relationship, he has a...

Rep. Paul Ryan is constantly brushing off questions about running for national office, deflecting inquiries as he puts his head down and turns up the volume on his ever present iPod. But as his public profile has soared, Ryan has quietly built a national political operation that’s flush with cash and designed to defend himself and his party against attacks. Ryan spent more than $1.6 million in direct mail since the beginning of 2011 spreading his fiscally conservative budget message across the country. He has $5 million in cash in his reelection campaign coffers — a colossal sum for a...

Some 20 million Americans in primaries and caucuses will take part in selecting the Republican presidential nominee. One person will choose the vice presidential nominee. This has long struck me as absurd: One person choosing someone who, as a result, might become president for as long as 10 years. But just about everyone in politics says it's the only proper way. Over the last 25 years, presidential nominees of both parties have engaged in conscientious consultation and have mostly made pretty good choices. No more picks at five o'clock in the morning to meet a convention deadline. For even longer,...

Paul Ryan took the stage last night in Wisconsin to introduce Mitt Romney and thank supporters ahead of his victory speech. Conservatives reacted favorably, sparking speculation that the speech was a trial balloon for Ryan as a Vice President candidate for Romney. Ryan challenged Obama for his "broken promises" reminding voters that he would try to divide Americans because he could not run on his record. "I seem to remember him saying that he was going to be a uniter, not a divider," Ryan said. "Frankly this is one and the worst of his broken promises. We do not need...

As Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan comes to a final decision about running for president, several top national conservatives are encouraging him to join the race. Ryan, who has been seriously but quietly considering a presidential bid for several months, is expected to decide on a run in the next two weeks. Indiana governor Mitch Daniels hopes he runs. “If there were a Paul Ryan fan club, I'd be a national officer,” Daniels said in a phone interview Wednesday morning. “I don't think it's a secret that he was strongly encouraging me to try. I've been strongly encouraging him to run...

Despite his repeated assertions that he’s not going to run for president in 2012, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan is “strongly considering” getting in the race, according to a report Tuesday. The Weekly Standard’s Stephen F. Hayes reported that Ryan, a Republican, is vacationing in Colorado this week, where he is discussing with his family the possibility of a run. “He’s coming around,” a source told Hayes about Ryan’s thinking. Ryan, a leader on budget issues, is often mentioned in the same sentence as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as a “dream” candidate that GOP donors and activists would like to...

Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan is strongly considering a run for president. Ryan, who has been quietly meeting with political strategists to discuss a bid over the past three months, is on vacation in Colorado discussing a prospective run with his family. Ryan’s concerns about the effects of a presidential campaign – and perhaps a presidency – on his family have been his primary focus as he thinks through his political future. Paul Ryan “He’s coming around,” says a Republican source close to Ryan, who has been urging the 41-year-old to run. Ryan hinted at his thinking during a candid interview...

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Monday that he would like to see House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan run for president in 2012 and suggested that any candidate considering a 2012 bid should embrace the Wisconsin Republican’s budget plan to cut trillions over the next ten years. “Sure,” Cantor replied enthusiastically when asked if he would like to see Ryan jump into the race against President Obama. “Paul’s about real leadership. I think that that’s what this public so desperately wants to do right now. They want to see Washington that will lead. They don’t want to see individuals that...

Rep. Paul Ryan is reaching out to potential Senate candidates in Wisconsin, informing them he's unlikely to run for Herb Kohl's seat next year, according to two sources familiar with the conversations. The House Budget Committee chairman, who was in Chicago Monday defending his polarizing debt reduction plan in front of the city's Economic Club, told one prospective candidate he was "leaning heavily against a run," an adviser confirmed to POLITICO. Another consultant said that the congressman conveyed he was "95 percent sure" he would not enter the race for the open seat. That percentage, of course, leaves him a...

When was the last time that a Republican lost because he was too young and vibrant? A recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll finds that more than half (53 percent) of those who plan to vote in the Republican presidential primaries are self-described Tea Party voters. The preferences of Tea Party voters will therefore have a great influence on the selection of the Republican presidential nominee.Moreover, a New York Times poll shows that 30 to 40 percent of Tea Party voters are either independents or Democrats, and the Hill writes that a poll conducted by a Republican outfit confirms the Times’s...

Rep. Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican who has recently been under attack by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and lavished with praise by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), is ruling out a 2012 run for president. Over the weekend, Ryan was singled out for praise by Palin during her interview with “Fox News Sunday.” "“[W]e have some strong -- some young Turks in this party,” said Palin. “Paul Ryan -- I’m very impressed with Paul Ryan. . . . He’s good. Man, he is sharp. He is smart, articulate. And he is passionate about these commonsense solutions that America has...