I saw on Kos that it is too late for Ryan to be removed from the Wisconsin ballot, so yes, he will be running for both offices.
Nope, he is just a conspiracy theorist, typical anti science republican and anti environmentalist representative.
I don’t think he can begin spending the bulk of his campaign money until after the convention, when he officially become the nominee.
Needs more brimstone, Reverend.
It’s not particularly relevant at this point, but you’d have been right about the first three, but wrong about Jindal.
As I pointed on the other thread, one should tell the blind leader that is requesting to lead all Americans to take a hike. There was a thread before that wondered if this issue was going to be a presidential one, well we have to thank Romney for this, anti-science ideas have roosted for too long among republicans and it is time now to call them out because they are no longer pandering but actively doing efforts to stop progress on this front.
Vulture/Voucher 2012!
For those who say Ryan has good favorables, that’s likely because NOBODY REALLY KNOWS HIM. The only people who REALLY know what’s in the Ryan budget plan are political fanatics like some of us and the people over at Daily Kos. Once the Obama campaign and the pro-Obama superpacs get going, everyone will know about the details (such as they are) of the Ryan budget.
Also, remember that NY-23, a district that was red as blood for decades, went blue in the special election, mostly because of Ryan’s budget plan.
And one more thing regarding the sorry point that this is based on religion, as Tim Minchin said of woo proponents that claim that scientists use religion:
““Hm that’s a good point, let me think for a bit
Oh wait, my mistake, it’s absolute bullshit.
Science adjusts it’s beliefs based on what’s observed
Faith is the refusal* of observation so that Belief can be preserved.” - Storm
The reality is that it does not matter how republican a scientist can be, the anti science brigade is the base now of the current Republican leadership and it has to pander to some of the most reprehensible voters:
Absolutely, and that’s why Romney and Ryan must articulate the case as to why the voucher system is better. It’s definitely going to be an uphill climb. Newt Gingrich and the GOP in 1995, for example, got eviscerated by Clinton on functionally the same issue.
However, Romney and Ryan aren’t as bombastic as Gingrich, and Obama doesn’t have that “aw shucks” charm that Clinton had. Clinton also had a proposal to balance the budget in 10 years and had shown that he could actually reduce deficits (even if through tax increases).
I think that swing voters are tiring of the Obama “We did the best we could with what we were handed” line. There comes a point in time where it doesn’t matter what you were given, but what you are going to do going moving forward. Obama’s plan seems to stop at tax increases for people making over $250k/yr.
So there is definitely a groove out there that Romney and Ryan could hit. They will come under withering attack from the left with negative ads the likes of which have never been seen before. Can they remain cool and articulate the vision they have? It remains to be seen.
By those who’ve never seen a presidential election before and ignore the Romney campaign, anyway. 
I am still trying to figure out the timing of this announcement.
At the crack of dawn on a Saturday, instead of top of the news on a Monday?
Almost as if they want to slide this in secretly or something. Very odd.
Also, now you have two bland white guys running - granted, Biden is hardly the hip and happening dude, but he contrasts nicely to the Obama persona.
Romney and Ryan look like two bankers nobody would want to see across the table from them when asking for help with your mortgage. I suppose this might have made the conservatives happy, but I just don’t see undecided/independent voters getting all excited now.
I am sure the vetting process will now begin in the press, and it will be interesting to see what they find that perhaps the Romney camp overlooked when choosing Ryan.
I mean ads from semi mainstream sources. Sure you can get some wacko group to call Obama a Kenyan or say that Republicans are Klan members, but I mean real ads from the campaigns or the national party that show 80 year old women turning tricks to pay for their hospital bills or some other outrageous thing.
I assure you they are not hoping people won’t notice. I’m still guessing they wanted to get the pick discussed on all the Meet-the-Press type shows and let the talk radio sphere line up behind Ryan. Considering how little the VP generally matters and the fact that these guys are going to be all over the country and the news for almost three months, it really doesn’t matter that they announced it on a Saturday.
I think that this is correct. See how the pundits toss it around over the weekend and get Hannity, Rush, et al on the same page with the same talking points on Monday.
If you announce it on Monday morning, you run the risk of someone on your side saying something out of line.
Let me post one good thing about Ryan –the only good thing I found:
Magellan, imagine if someone who didn’t believe in nuclear warheads wanted to run for president. Imagine that he would support implementing policy that would start full-on war with Pakistan, because “They would have no way to defend themselves from our traditional warfare”. Imagine if he based this on his failure to understand basic physics. Okay. Imagining that? Would you consider us out of line for voicing our stern opposition to such a ludicrously out-of-touch-with-reality candidate?
Having Ryan on the ticket will turn out more of the GOP and Tea Party base, but most of them were already going to vote for Romney anyway; now Mittens will just get more of them than he would have otherwise pulled in. The thing is, he can’t win using only his base, and as soon as the Obama team starts to define Ryan and his plan…well, mark my words, there is going to be a sizable shift to the left for the remaining few independents out there.
I have to believe on at least some level that the Obama campaign is downright giddy now that they have Ryan on Romney’s ticket. I mean, it is a fact that the kinds of changes and cuts that Ryan - and now Romney - want to make to Medicare (and by extension every other social safety net) are incredibly unpopular; independents are going to hear that stuff and go “You want to do THAT? Fuck you guys, I’m going for Obama.”
Obviously the Romney guys were nervous; make no mistake, having Ryan on the ticket is a result of Romney having made a scared decision.
Much as I think Ryan is an idiot or a liar or both, I am completely mystified by your response. Are you talking about a president who would start a conventional war with Pakistan, or a nuclear war with Pakistan, “because they would have no way to defend themselves…” They certainly do have ways to defend themselves against conventional attack, mostly with weapons we provided them. No one country has any real means of defending itself against a nuclear missile attack.
Are you saying that starting a nuclear war against Pakistan is a better choice than starting a conventional war?
He’s saying that because the example president doesn’t believe in nukes, he’ll go about his business in a manner as if they don’t exist.
If we wants to invade Pakistan, he’ll mass an overwhelming amount conventional troops on their border, not understanding that they can just launch nuclear shells to kill everyone.
So, because of his daft misunderstanding, he’ll do very, very stupid things. Like a how a climate change denier might cancel wind power subsides while retaining them for fossil fuels.
Ok, I understand that, so I will just say that this is a ridiculous comparison. I know of literally no one on earth who disbelieves that nuclear weapons exist or that they work. Ryan is simply not nearly THAT stupid. My guess is he isn’t stupid at all, more likely he is in the pocket of the energy industry, and perhaps even doesn’t believe the situation is as dire as probably is.
Now, if you can come up with a scenario where Ryan is being paid or otherwise personally benefiting from a claim that nukes aren’t real, you might have something.
Now, this leads us to the question of whether we want a corrupt and/or stupid Vice President. Unfortunately, we have lots of precedents of that.