# Paul Ryan vs The Stench (Romney campaign melting down internally) \[satire warning\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 26, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842 "2012-09-26T01:21:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842/21 "2012-09-26T03:54:59Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > The first half of the article was worth it, the second half was a bizarre rant against Powerpoint. What could possibly be bizarre about a rant against Powerpoint? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842/22 "2012-09-26T03:59:21Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > The precedent is LBJ, running for VP and Senator at the same time in 1960. More recently, Joe Lieberman did the same in 2000. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842/23 "2012-09-26T04:15:54Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Well, sure. Otherwise, involuntary servitude, right? He just has to say, “I changed my mind. Y’all go to blazes,” and he’s free as free can be. Even if it’s too late to take his name off the ballot, even if he wins (!) he could simply refuse to take the oath of office. > > This was covered in another thread (and I looked but can’t find it.) No, he has the legal right to run for both offices, and, if he should win both, he may choose which to accept. [It’s legal under Wisconsin law.](http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/243227-ryan-can-run-for-house-seat-vp-at-same-time) > > The precedent is LBJ, running for VP and Senator at the same time in 1960. P Has there even been a case of the VP leaving (being pushed from) the campaign at this stage? Perhaps we still have time to get palin on the ballot? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842/24 "2012-09-26T04:35:06Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > What could possibly be bizarre about a rant against Powerpoint? It’s bizarre if you take the article as being serious. However, as some suggested, it does read like satire. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842/25 "2012-09-26T05:05:09Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > P > Has there even been a case of the VP leaving (being pushed from) the campaign at this stage? Perhaps we still have time to get palin on the ballot? Eagleton was pushed off after the conventions due to his mental health problems. In the (striclty hypothetical, Ryan isn’t going to leave the ticket) case Ryan wanted to leave, the GOP might be stuck with his name on a couple state ballots, but since voters are pretty much universally looking for the name on the top of the ticket, that hardly matters in any case. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842/26 "2012-09-26T05:29:34Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > This has to be some kind of late April Fools’ joke. [The lobotomy board](http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2936231/posts) is taking it seriously, though. Oh dearie me, they really are in a froth over there, aren’t they? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842/27 "2012-09-26T05:39:00Z")
I don’t see why this is so hard to believe. We had a precedent for this 4 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842/28 "2012-09-26T06:02:54Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Eagleton was pushed off after the conventions due to his mental health problems. In the (striclty hypothetical, Ryan isn’t going to leave the ticket) case Ryan wanted to leave, the GOP might be stuck with his name on a couple state ballots, but since voters are pretty much universally looking for the name on the top of the ticket, that hardly matters in any case. In theory Ryan could resign the nomination leaving he RNC to pick a new candidate (though as you pointed out it’s probally to late to change the ballot in some states). That’s not going to happen unless Ryan fucks up in a really huge way. Like publically calling Romney the Antichrist or have a sex tape of him & a male prostitute leaked bad. It would be a total diastor for Romney to change running mate at this stage. The only way Romney could do it without dooming his campaign would be if Ryan died in a car/plane crash or was assasinated. Even natural causes could reflectly badly on Romney, if it was something that was at all predictable. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842/29 "2012-09-26T06:48:14Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > In theory Ryan could resign the nomination leaving he RNC to pick a new candidate (though as you pointed out it’s probally to late to change the ballot in some states). I’ve read the Missouri ballots are locked in on September 25. This was mentioned in a story about Todd Akin. It was given as a reason why the Democrats held off on pushing his rape remarks controversy. They wanted to wait until the Republicans were committed to running Akin and couldn’t replace him with another nominee. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842/30 "2012-09-26T07:20:36Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > only way Romney could do it without dooming his campaign would be if Ryan died in a car/plane crash or was assasinated. And now we see the REAL reason Romney was wondering about opening the windows on airplanes… he wants to loose Ryan, but not his personal jet… uhhh hmmmmm the picture is becoming clearer… But seriously, after Palin, this is sort of like a rerun, don’t you think? I’m thinking that Ryan’s congressional race may be taking on water and he wants to distance himself from Romney like all the other GOP congress critters are doing. Too bad, he’s on the ticket as VP. AND, if he did happen to fall out of an airplane with roll down windows… would that mean that Boehner would move up to VP? Wonder if he’s spending his nights right now, day dreaming about the swearing in and telling himself “I will NOT cry. I will NOT cry.” ---
**Author:** ![Untoward\_Parable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Untoward\_Parable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Untoward_Parable)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842/31 "2012-09-26T10:01:35Z")
Politico doesn’t do satire do they? I mean not without it being obvious. This isn’t the Onion. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842/32 "2012-09-26T11:46:45Z")
I checked cnn and (ms)nbc and didn’t see any reference to this… My $ is still on satire (but it’s a small bet.) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842/33 "2012-09-26T11:56:42Z")
> [@Untoward\_Parable](#): > > Politico doesn’t do satire do they? I mean not without it being obvious. This isn’t the Onion. Simon is one of their columnists which explains the casual writing style and strange but dead on accurate attacks on Powerpoint. The Craig Robinson quote in the first paragraph was really published in the NYTimes and Ryan was quoted as saying “I’m kind of a PowerPoint guy, so I hope you’ll bear with me” in numerous articles unrelated to Simon’s column, includnig the the National Review. So I’d say it’s not a satire. If one chooses to disbelieve the unattributed Ryan quotes about Noonan and the Stench et al. that’s one thing, but I don’t think it’s satirical. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842/34 "2012-09-26T12:04:14Z")
> [@Enkel](#): > > And now we see the REAL reason Romney was wondering about opening the windows on airplanes… he wants to loose Ryan, but not his personal jet… uhhh hmmmmm the picture is becoming clearer… > > But seriously, after Palin, this is sort of like a rerun, don’t you think? > > I’m thinking that Ryan’s congressional race may be taking on water and he wants to distance himself from Romney like all the other GOP congress critters are doing. Too bad, he’s on the ticket as VP. > > AND, if he did happen to fall out of an airplane with roll down windows… would that mean that Boehner would move up to VP? Wonder if he’s spending his nights right now, day dreaming about the swearing in and telling himself “I will NOT cry. I will NOT cry.” The windows don’t need to be open, when you tie him to the roof, just use bad knots. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842/35 "2012-09-26T12:18:38Z")
Krugman referenced it on his NY Times blog: [http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/26/death-by-powerpoint-continued/](http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/26/death-by-powerpoint-continued/) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842/36 "2012-09-26T12:39:24Z")
However, Krugman hedged his bets “if this Politico piece is to be believed…” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842/37 "2012-09-26T13:12:33Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I checked cnn and (ms)nbc and didn’t see any reference to this… > > My $ is still on satire (but it’s a small bet.) 😉 Mine too. That piece made my Too-Good-To-Be-True-ometer start pinging like mad, then it went into full three-alarm-fire mode. I mean, how about this: > [@](#): > > Dan Senor, one of Romney’s closest advisers, has kept a tight grip on Ryan, traveling with him everywhere and making sure he hews to the directions of the Romney “brain trust” in Boston. (A brain trust, rumor has it, that refers to Ryan as “Gilligan.”) Gilligan - that’s just _perfect_, isn’t it? **Stench/Gilligan 2012!** Still, it’s an indication of where we are that Politico would publish such a satirical piece. If they’re jumping on a Republican’s ass, it’s a safe bet that they expect that the Republican won’t be in a position to return the favor. And there’s this: > [@](#): > > A word about PowerPoint. PowerPoint was released by Microsoft in 1990 as a way to euthanize cattle using a method less cruel than hitting them over the head with iron mallets. After PETA successfully argued in court that PowerPoint actually was more cruel than iron mallets, the program was adopted by corporations for slide show presentations. I’m sorry, but you don’t put that sort of thing in a straight news piece. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842/38 "2012-09-26T13:15:03Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > "I’m having finger sandwiches with Peggy Noonan…” > > Is that something like “flogging the dolphin” or “strangling the bishop”? Maybe it’s like ‘hiking the Appalachian Trail.’ ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842/39 "2012-09-26T13:20:16Z")
Also meaningful, even in a satirical piece, is the line “Dan Senor, one of Romney’s closest advisers.” For those with short memories, Dan Senor served in the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad in the early days of our Iraq misadventure. He was the guy always giving out happy talk to the press about how great everything was going, as Iraq all but went up in flames in the spring of 2004. He was our own Baghdad Bob. If he said the sun was rising in the east, I’d want to get independent corroboration. I know he’s part of the Romney campaign, but if he’s really one of Romney’s _closest advisors_, how dumb or crazy is that, really? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842/40 "2012-09-26T13:27:34Z")
100% satirical. Sorta amusing though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-ryan-vs-the-stench-romney-campaign-melting-down-internally-satire-warning/635842.md?page=3)