# Whatever happened to Paul Ryan? Wasn't he running for office? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 28, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-paul-ryan-wasnt-he-running-for-office/639158 "2012-10-28T21:52:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-paul-ryan-wasnt-he-running-for-office/639158/1 "2012-10-28T21:52:22Z")
A few of us were chatting and we can’t actually remember hearing much lately about him. Is he under wraps or something? Maybe laying low in hopes of saving his future chances? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-paul-ryan-wasnt-he-running-for-office/639158/2 "2012-10-28T21:58:49Z")
I actually had a thing going on Facebook where every day, I’d post other things that were more important than Paul Ryan according to the headlines at Google News–baseball scores, a kid with a puppy, a new kind of moss discovered on rocks in the Baltic Sea… I think his campaign managers are just trying to keep things like [this](http://www.opposingviews.com/i/politics/2012-election/video-rep-paul-ryan-refuses-answer-questions-unemployed-man-offers-him) under wraps. ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-paul-ryan-wasnt-he-running-for-office/639158/3 "2012-10-28T22:07:41Z")
He is Palin 2: Snafu Boogaloo. The Republicans already have their extremists in their pockets. No right minded person would want this guy anywhere near 2 nd in command… The republican campaign is going after the moderate, middle of the road voters now. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-paul-ryan-wasnt-he-running-for-office/639158/4 "2012-10-28T22:09:54Z")
He made a swing through the Deep South recently. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-paul-ryan-wasnt-he-running-for-office/639158/5 "2012-10-28T22:13:47Z")
I’m very thankful that he isn’t a scheming media whore like Palin. Ryan understands that this is Romney’s campaign. The VP candidate isn’t supposed to upstage the main candidate. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-paul-ryan-wasnt-he-running-for-office/639158/6 "2012-10-28T22:34:42Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I’m very thankful that he isn’t a scheming media whore like Palin. Ryan understands that this is Romney’s campaign. > > The VP candidate isn’t supposed to upstage the main candidate. Let us all quietly contemplate the fact that _Sarah Palin_ upstaged McCain. But yeah, the Romney campaign has done well to keep Ryan quiet. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-paul-ryan-wasnt-he-running-for-office/639158/7 "2012-10-28T22:47:08Z")
Right now he’s campaigning in Mississippi and South Carolina, preventing the Obama surge from sweeping the South. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-paul-ryan-wasnt-he-running-for-office/639158/8 "2012-10-28T23:11:04Z")
Well that’s quite the strategy. Send him to places 538 gives Romney a 99-100% chance of carrying. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-paul-ryan-wasnt-he-running-for-office/639158/9 "2012-10-29T00:03:43Z")
I thought I heard that they sent him on a snipe hunt in Texas. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-paul-ryan-wasnt-he-running-for-office/639158/10 "2012-10-29T00:09:18Z")
He’s busy washing dishes at a bunch of homeless shelters. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-paul-ryan-wasnt-he-running-for-office/639158/11 "2012-10-29T00:33:18Z")
I haven’t heard from Joe Biden lately, either. Nobody cares about VP candidates. Palin was an outlier. Ryan is a traditional VP candidate; you only hear about him for a little while after his selection and during the VP debate. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-paul-ryan-wasnt-he-running-for-office/639158/12 "2012-10-29T00:40:02Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > He’s busy washing dishes at a bunch of homeless shelters. Yeah, and he’s quite busy at that; what with all the hurrying to get all the dishes washed _before_ anyone goes and dirties them. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-paul-ryan-wasnt-he-running-for-office/639158/13 "2012-10-29T00:44:59Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I haven’t heard from Joe Biden lately, either. > > Nobody cares about VP candidates. Palin was an outlier. Ryan is a traditional VP candidate; you only hear about him for a little while after his selection and during the VP debate. Yep. But when you are predisposed to think the worst of Republicans, then everything they do, or don’t do, can re-enforce that predisposition. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-paul-ryan-wasnt-he-running-for-office/639158/14 "2012-10-29T01:07:44Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I haven’t heard from Joe Biden lately, either. Biden has been in PA and NH this weekend (94 and 70% likely for Obama). NH at least isn’t a lock like the places Ryan is showing up. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-paul-ryan-wasnt-he-running-for-office/639158/15 "2012-10-29T01:20:45Z")
He’s at the gym. Nobody has ever properly explained to the poor boy that there’s no swimsuit portion of this particular competition. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-paul-ryan-wasnt-he-running-for-office/639158/16 "2012-10-29T01:22:00Z")
On Wednesday evening, Ryan raised money in an event in Atlanta, Georgia that closed down major roads during rush hour and produced some aggravated tones from commuters on social media. On Thursday morning, Ryan raised money ($25,000/couple) in an event in Midland, Texas. On Friday morning, Ryan is scheduled for two fund raising events in Greenville, South Carolina, one for $5,000 per couple, the second at $25,000 per couple. On Friday afternoon, Ryan will hold a fund raising lunch in Huntsville, Alabama. [http://blogs.ajc.com/jamie-dupree-washington-insider/2012/10/25/why-is-paul-ryan-in-states-that-dont-matter/](http://blogs.ajc.com/jamie-dupree-washington-insider/2012/10/25/why-is-paul-ryan-in-states-that-dont-matter/) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-paul-ryan-wasnt-he-running-for-office/639158/17 "2012-10-29T01:51:50Z")
Yeah, when candidates visit their stronghold states, it’s to get dollars, not votes. Sometimes they even visit the other side’s strongholds for this reason: See California, for instance, which contains a lot more conservatives than Wyoming does. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-paul-ryan-wasnt-he-running-for-office/639158/18 "2012-10-29T02:14:05Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Yep. But when you are predisposed to think the worst of Republicans, then everything they do, or don’t do, can re-enforce that predisposition. While true, it has nothing to with the question. I heard all about Biden back when we didn’t know anything about him. And I definitely heard about Sarah Palin. I guess, when you’re predisposed to think the worst of liberals, then everything we say, or don’t say, can re-enforce that predisposition. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-paul-ryan-wasnt-he-running-for-office/639158/19 "2012-10-29T02:21:59Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I actually had a thing going on Facebook where every day, I’d post other things that were more important than Paul Ryan according to the headlines at Google News–baseball scores, a kid with a puppy, a new kind of moss discovered on rocks in the Baltic Sea… I support Baltic Moss for Vice-President. Why shouldn’t it get as much press coverage as Ryan? Baltic Moss is not a Washington insider, not beholden to any lobbyists or factions, and fully qualified to carry out the duties of the vice-presidency. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-paul-ryan-wasnt-he-running-for-office/639158/20 "2012-10-29T02:33:25Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > While true, it has nothing to with the question. I heard all about Biden back when we didn’t know anything about him. And I definitely heard about Sarah Palin. I don’t recall there being much talk about Biden in 2008. Sarah Palin was a phenomenon I have never seen in any other Presidential election in my lifetime, a VP pick who overshadowed the Presidential candidate. Ryan is a very normal, conventional VP candidate. He’s campaigning to make money, which is a pretty typical assignment. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-paul-ryan-wasnt-he-running-for-office/639158.md?page=2)