Paul Ryan VP Pick Will Renew Enthusiasm for Mitt Romney

Impact

The vice presidential race is over, and Paul Ryan is the presumed pick for the Romney ticket.  Romney’s bold pick could be just what his campaign needs to secure a victory in November.

Coming into the general election, a large number of Republican big wigs showed nothing more than lackluster support for Mitt Romney as their candidate. From former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, to former presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich, the endorsements for Romney are more out of obligation than actual support.

Adding Paul Ryan will bring enthusiasm back to the Romney ticket. Ryan has already seen an overwhelming amount of support from high-profile Republicans in Congress. Senator Marco Rubio, from Florida, referred to Ryan as a “courageous reformer who understands our nation’s challenges.” Representative Peter King, of Utah, also showed a tremendous amount of support for Paul Ryan and remarked that Ryan would “put life into the race.”

However, what will really seal the deal for the Romney/Ryan ticket is less the enthusiasm that Ryan brings to the table and more the bold ideas and intention of reform that have made him a rising star in his party. Ryan has proven in his “Roadmap” that he is not afraid to go head to head with his Democratic opponents with massive proposals to tackle the out of control budget.

In regards to Ryan’s budget plan, Democratic strategist Joe Trippi remarked that whether or not Ryan’s name is on the Romney ticket attacks on his budget plan would be a part of the race in the coming months. And as William Kristol of the Weekly Standard remarked, “If Ryan’s budget is going to be a central part of the debate over the next three months, who better to explain and defend it than Paul Ryan?”

Bringing Ryan’s plan to the forefront of the budget talks will also make a much needed change in the focus of the budget discussion from the economy as a whole to a more specific conversation on government spending. Ryan is one of the few politicians who is willing to take a serious look at entitlement reforms -- and reshaping spending on social programs in order to tame the multi-trillion budget deficit.

Putting Representative Paul Ryan on his ticket was a bold move by the Romney campaign, but was certainly a risk that the Romney campaign needed to take to reenergize his ticket and refocus the election back on solving America’s budget crisis.