Romney Chooses Ryan

Mitt Romney has finally picked his running mate in what was a surprise announcement. In the early hours of Saturday morning, not the usual time for political news to break, the news came that Romney had chosen Paul Ryan as his choice for vice-president. This is definitely the biggest campaign announcement since Romney locked up the Republican nomination in May following the Texan Primary.

Romney making the announcement in Virginia
Source: maddowblog.com

The choice of seven-term Congressman Paul Ryan is not a surprising one; he is a favourite amongst many of the Republican base due to his hyper-radical “Ryan Budget”. Yet when a presidential nominee chooses his running mate, the opposing party is supposed to recoil in fear, not jump for joy. Many on the Democratic side are delighted with Romney’s choice; Ryan is the poster boy for the current congress, which is the most unpopular since modern polling began. His role in the “Ryan budget” which proposed destroying medicare, giving tax breaks to the very wealthy and gutting social security, will make many independents feel uneasy.

At this stage in the race Romney should be pandering to moderates, not his base, if he wishes to win in November. Even though Romney locked up the nomination two months ago, he is still unpopular with people in his own party, particularly Christian Evangelicals and the Tea Party. Despite this fact, I don’t understand why he chose such a radical conservative. Romney is in a very lucky position, the base of the Republican Party absolutely detest Barack Obama, they believe he is Satan, Hitler and Stalin in the one body. He does not need to get the backing of his base, they will turn out to vote in November anyway, not out of love for Romney, but out of hatred for Obama. So choosing a radical conservative as his running mate is a foolish choice at best, it will alienate independents whilst not increasing the turnout of the Republican base.