The choice of Paul Ryan is a sign of weakness not of strength. With the election less than 90 days away and the popular vote now trending away from him, Romney apparently now feels the need to select a highly speculative vice-presidential nominee who, yes, can enrapture his often-doubtful conservative base and consolidate his party's 35-40% turnout, but what more?
Indeed the whole scenario (and tragedy) sounds familiar. Didn't the Republican Party go down that road before in 2008? Didn't Mr. Maverick John McCain pick Sarah Palin to rally the party faithful who had reservations about him? And what did it bring McCain? Renewing your right-wing constituency is not enough to win the presidency.
A candidate still needs the general electorate of independents and some minimal amount of conservative Democrats. Romney's decision to choose a man who loves Ayn Rand is not likely to appeal to those swing voters, just as Sarah Palin for related reasons failed to appeal in her turn.
The fact that Romney did not go for the safe choice in a vice-presidential selection is a token of his lack of confidence. He knows he cannot win based solely on his own appeal. So he is now forced into making the McCain error, only compounding his woes. One would have to conclude that this is a campaign which is slowly unraveling.
If he had tabbed Abraham Lincoln, liberals would have run ads on Lincoln's chronic depression.
The remarkable, I would even say jawdropping lunacy of the left is that it was only four years ago, after the election, that the left crowed about the death of the right--before getting it's tail kicked in the midterms.
Now, as if it is suffering from collective amnesia, the left has forgoten it's humiliating prediction, its misplaced arrogance, and thinks it will dispatch of Romney and Ryan--particularly Ryan--as easily as it did the untested Sarah Palin.
He's already taken the left's best shot and suffered the equivalent of a paper cut.
Nancy Pelosi clearly has little respect for Oscar Wilde who noted "Beware of what you ask for; you might just get it.
Oh, and as an aside: The left's decision to have Bill Clinton's speech--which was geared to bring white males, indies, and money to the left--precisely at the time the first NFL game of the season would start--may be remembere as one of the most feckless convention decisions of the past 20 years.
Then a steady glide into the ditch....the final 6 weeks.......
Pennsylvania should stay with Obama, New Hampshire should be Romney, and all the ones that Obama picked off in 2008 will switch back to Romney due to disilusionment of the hopey / changey thing that didn't work out so well. New Mexico is a toss-up but probably will go Obama.
The Electoral College is all that matters.........and the early November Election Day poll is the only one that matters too. Everything else is background noise.......including these posted comments.