Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

In after Baud. Damn.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Everybody saw this coming.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

This chaos was totally avoidable.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

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Fool for a client

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The more I think about it, the more I think Romney fucked up big time when he chose Ryan. It’s true that one way or another, the Ryan budget was going to come up — the Obama campaign is too smart not to bring it up — and that a last minute push on the issue of Social Security and Medicare would have hurt Romney. So I can see the sense of having the guy who’s the best at selling vouchercare by your side when you have to defend vouchercare.

But if you’re Republican and you’re discussing ending Medicare at all, you’re in a bad situation. So I think Romney’s best bet was to try to make sure that the Ryan plan didn’t become a big issue.

So it’s not surprising that Den Senor helped talk Romney into Eagleton 2, Electric Boogaloo:

Romney’s aides have stressed publicly in the 24 hours since Romney electrified conservatives with his choice that the pick was the governor’s alone. They have been less forthcoming on the flip side: That much of his staff opposed the choice for the same reason that many pundits considered it unlikely — that Ryan’s appealingly wonky public image and a personality Romney finds copasetic will matter far less than two different budget plans whose details the campaign now effectively owns.

[….]

Another Republican in conversation with the campaign — though not a member of the inner circle of Romney advisers — said the early skeptics tended to be the political professionals, including consultants Stuart Stevens and Russ Schriefer, and pollster Neil Newhouse, while Myers, foreign policy advisor Dan Senor, and ultimately Romney himself favored Ryan. (Those involved declined to shed light on the campaign’s most confidential conversations; and others, including Myers, disputed that characterization; she said Saturday she kept her opinion to herself.)

It feels good to be able to link to Ben Smith, probably my favorite national political reporter, without giving Politico any hits.

Reader Interactions

115Comments

  1. 1.

    Bruce S

    Hey, if you take your advice from the chief spokesman for the Iraq Coalition Provisional Authority, what could possibly go wrong?

  2. 2.

    Mike in NC

    Den Senor helped talk Romney into Eagleton 2, Electric Boogaloo

    Also, too, let’s not forget to give a little credit to Bill “Always Wrong” Kristol!

  3. 3.

    john glen

    You said it yourself before Doug. We wanted them to pick Ryan. Just because they did doesn’t mean you should question your instincts. 332 electoral votes.

  4. 4.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    hat Ryan’s appealingly wonky public image

    OBJECTION! Assumes facts not in evidence! (IANAL, but that works on TeeVee). What is buzz feed? Is it a right wing site, or just a Village attempt at being “hip” for the young people. I know Ben Smith is a refugee from Broderico.

    Think Christie and Romney agreed on this fable to save mutual face and appease Das Coulter? (from Booman)

    The New York Post says that Chris Christie would have been the veep pick but he wouldn’t agree to Romney’s demand that he resign as governor of New Jersey to focus on the campaign.

  5. 5.

    Baud

    The more I think about it, the more I think Romney fucked up big time when he chose Ryan decided to run for President.

    FTFY

  6. 6.

    Spaghetti Lee

    Romney’s aides have stressed publicly in the 24 hours since Romney electrified conservatives with his choice that the pick was the governor’s alone.

    Boy, they’re just oozing confidence, aren’t they?

  7. 7.

    wrb

    I gotta believe that Romney was forced to pick a guy he knows will probably hurt him in the general because the righties were about to blow his shit up.

    They are pretty sure this tax stuff is fatal & they never liked him anyway.

    Flop sweat.

  8. 8.

    Violet

    I love it that the aides are throwing Romney under the bus this soon. How long before high profile folks start fleeing the campaign?

  9. 9.

    Yutsano

    @wrb: So he picks…a Catholic Yankee from the upper Midwest. Why, he’s practically a furriner! I don’t see how this shores up any faith in Willard in the South at all, not to mention potentially softening (and purpling) Texas.

  10. 10.

    Violet

    Romney electrified conservatives with his choice

    And this is hardly true. Quoting Erik son of Erik from AL’s post below:

    If it is Ryan, I’ll be quite happy. His departure from Congress would improve both Congress and the Romney campaign. It would improve Congress because too many people tend to lionize him when his record has some flaws. His presence often drowns out competing ideas that may be better and/or more conservative.

    Barely conservative enough. Erik doesn’t seem electrified.

  12. 12.

    gogol's wife

    Who still uses the word “copasetic”? I thought I was old, but it’s too old even for me.

  14. 14.

    hells littlest angel

    Ryan is the one who fucked up. He will be forever yoked to the guy who crashed the Republican party in 2012. Romney will just lope off with a shit-eating grin like George Bush without the alcohol-damaged brain.

  15. 15.

    AxelFoley

    OT–Russia with an amazing comeback on Brazil in men’s volleyball. Brazil one point away from gold, but Russia comes back to force 5 sets. Now Russia is one point from the gold.

    Unbelievable.

    Edit: Russia wins gold. Great comeback.

  16. 16.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    and others, including Myers, disputed that characterization; she said Saturday she kept her opinion to herself.)

    How’s that for a battle cry? “What? Me? I just work here”

    @Spaghetti Lee: thanks, I’ve only looked at it a couple times. Somebody apologized for a buzzfeed link on a liberal site, and I thought maybe it was like a Greg Gutfield attempt to a make right wing Gawker.

  17. 17.

    WaterGirl

    @Spaghetti Lee: My personal favorite of the ones listed:

    If Paul Ryan popped up in the first ten minutes of a Law and Order episode, you’d be all “oh, he’s the killer”.

    Edit: I can see him on Law and Order as the smarmy guy who was “away on a business trip” when his wife was killed but they later find that he snuck back and killed his wife.

  19. 19.

    Southern Beale

    You know, I was reading a bunch of stories from back in April about how the Obama Administration was trying to steer the national conversation toward the Ryan budget and just could’t get any traction on it. So yeah, in a sense this is the opportunity Obama always wanted. Because NOW we get to talk about it.

    In other news, if anyone is sick of politics, I’ve closed the door on the Summer Olympics and have some suggestions for the IOC.

  20. 20.

    gogol's wife

    @WaterGirl:

    That was my husband’s reaction immediately, as soon as he saw his face. His version of it was, “I see that face and I think, take evasive action.”

  22. 22.

    The Dangerman

    @wrb:

    I gotta believe that Romney was forced to pick a guy he knows will probably hurt him in the general because the righties were about to blow his shit up.

    This.

    Too much more on the taxes, coupled with any more missteps like with Romneycare, and Romney doesn’t make it out of the convention…

    …and taxes were still the being discussed this morning. Nice try.

  23. 23.

    NancyDarling

    I’ve been thinking that Rmoney needed some adults on his campaign staff with all the crap that emanates from Boston—touting Eddie Munster’ private sector experience in driving the Wienermobile for example.

    Maybe there are a few adults there and the Bain executive over-rules them every time.

  24. 24.

    Haydnseek

    @Violet: Exactly. The only way Rmoney is going to electrify anybody is by strapping them into the chair and throwing the switch.

  25. 25.

    David

    Ryan has been in Congress for fifteen years — more than a third of his life. That’s what it takes to be a young, rising Conservative these days.

  26. 26.

    James E. Powell

    Ryan is a good fit with what I believe is Romney’s Plan A for the campaign: hold the base together and hope that something bad happens. I have no idea what his Plan B might entail, but I assume it concerns holding onto seats in both houses of the congress.

  28. 28.

    Valdivia

    @efgoldman:

    they are all at it. Apparently the Romney camp told the media that they had 15k people at their event today. One guy said it looked more like 3 thousand. But he can’t confirm and therefore say Romney’s camp was lying. Ugh.

  29. 29.

    Yutsano

    @BGinCHI: Win.

    @The Dangerman: Willard will find the conversation going in directions other than what he wants to talk about. Of course when he DOES want to talk about, well, anything, it’s in private fundraisers with no journalist access. Needs moar tire swing and barbecue there Mitty!

  30. 30.

    22over7

    @wrb:

    I don’t know where, and my google-fu absolutely sucks, but I’m sure I read somewhere that Ryan was Grover Norquist’s idea (and Bill Kristol’s). The powers that want to be have hung all their hopes on a Ryanesque government, and believe that Romney will do as he is told. This choice is to appease the owners, not the masses.

  31. 31.

    Zach

    Man, Dan Senor is the best argument against Mitt Romney as a CEO/President. Sure, Dan Senor screwed up the Coalition Provisional Authority… he’s possibly the only Press Secretary in history to personally be responsible for a significant number of deaths. But we all make mistakes, right? Give him another chance. Romney knows talent when he sees it! So Senor gets his big chance: run Romney’s foreign policy tour! He makes sure that all the stops are with foreign leaders who dislike Obama for various reasons. Easy! And that goes, completely, to hell.

    Yet, Dan Senor has not been fired. Nor has Mr. Etch-a-Sketch. In fact, it seems the only fireable offense if you work for Mitt Romney is being gay.

  32. 32.

    MattF

    One problem with Romney/Ryan– there’s a definite risk in putting two shameless liars in the same place talking about the same issues. Voters already regard Romney with mistrust, I expect it to get worse, and I expect that Ryan’s routine dishonesty will be an issue too.

  33. 33.

    Zach

    @MattF: I think Paul Ryan will be shocked to find that his normal tactic of making crap up knowing that the person interviewing him isn’t confident enough to call him on his BS (France’s health care costs are skyrocketing!) will not work so well when he’s in the news every day rather than every few months. I’m crossing my fingers that the VP debate moderator is a bona fide smart person who will ask Ryan good follow-up questions.

  34. 34.

    Mark S.

    But if you’re Republican and you’re discussing ending Medicare at all, you’re in a bad situation.

    Exactly. Medicare wasn’t an issue at all but now it’s going to be front and center.

    And Ryan sucks at defending his plan. He sucks and defending it against irate seniors so he doesn’t do that anymore. Hell, he couldn’t even defend Ayn Rand when some idiot teabaggers stopped and actually read about her and discovered she was a flaing atheist.

  35. 35.

    gbear

    “Many close aides had been lobbying for the low-risk, nonobjectionable Pawlenty, arguing that the two could run as outsiders taking on Washington,”

    This is the second time that Pawlenty’s been stood up big time by the GOP. He wanted to run for US Senate against Wellstone in 2002, but he got a call from Dick Cheney telling him to drop out and let Norm Coleman run instead. I couldn’t be happier to see Pawlenty (and also Coleman) get left behind.

  36. 36.

    Valdivia

    Perusing the Israeli press today I saw that Bibi just changed the law so that he can pass things through Parliament or stop things from going anywhere in parliament. A total power grab, everyone assumes it is about Iran. So there’s Romney’s Plan B.

  37. 37.

    Redshift

    @NancyDarling:

    Maybe there are a few adults there and the Bain executive over-rules them every time.

    Or more likely they’ve learned that if they make a suggestion and Romney disagrees with it, they’d better not repeat it unless they want to get demoted or fired. If there are any competent professionals still there, I imagine they’re doing their best to keep their names out of the papers while they collect a paycheck.

  38. 38.

    Amir Khalid

    When you see the boss’ inner circle disavowing one of his big decisions like Ben Smith reports, you’ve got to think, “This is going to end badly.” A consensus like that against Ryan should have been a big warning signal to Mitt. As it is, the campaign’s going to have play defense on Ryan’s economic policy instead of attacking Obama’s. Plus the way this went down says, Mitt doesn’t do listening to advice very well. Not a good thing to see in a president.

  41. 41.

    22over7

    @mamayaga:

    Thank you thank you. If I get any dumber, they’re going to have to water me once a week.

    Grover is quoted here as saying,”We are not auditioning for fearless leader. We don’t need a president to tell us in what direction to go. We know what direction to go. We want the Ryan budget. … We just need a president to sign this stuff. We don’t need someone to think it up or design it.”

  42. 42.

    MattF

    @Amir Khalid: It’s notable that dissenting opinions are being aired, that staff are talking to reporters. I’d bet that Mitt is having a big sad about that.

  43. 43.

    Brachiator

    Another Republican in conversation with the campaign — though not a member of the inner circle of Romney advisers — said the early skeptics tended to be the political professionals, including consultants Stuart Stevens and Russ Schriefer, and pollster Neil Newhouse, while Myers, foreign policy advisor Dan Senor, and ultimately Romney himself favored Ryan

    Prior to this, you didn’t hear much about Romney’s advisors and inner circles. Conservative pundits who were obviously in the know also kept their mouths closed.

    We even had the blip of political theater about the conventional wisdom about who Romney’s pick might be.

    Now all the Romney political rats are gnashing their teeth and going after one another over the brilliance or the stupidity of Romney’s choice.

    This is gonna be fun. And the general public is still watching the Olympics and enjoying their summer and their weekend. This means, by the way, that early polls about this won’t tell you too much.

    But people should tweet this, post up on Facebook and email your older relatives about how Romney picked this guy who wants to kill Social Security and Medicare. By Labor Day, the holiday political discussions should be big fun.

  44. 44.

    Amir Khalid

    @MattF:
    Ya know what’s scary? This announcement was made on Saturday. We haven’t even made it to Monday, and already some of Mitt’s top people are distancing themselves from it.

  45. 45.

    NotMax

    Romney last May:

    “I was speaking with one of these business owners who owns a couple of restaurants in town. And he said ‘You know I’d like to change the Constitution, I’m not sure I can do it,’ he said. ‘I’d like to have a provision in the Constitution that in addition to the age of the president and the citizenship of the president and the birthplace of the president being set by the Constitution, I’d like it also to say that the president has to spend at least three years working in business before he could become president of the United States.’”
    __[…]
    Indeed, had this latest idea to fall from the unscripted lips of Mitt Romney been the law of the land, we could wipe two of the four presidents this nation has honored by carving their heads into the face of Mt. Rushmore from their stony prominence.
    __
    Maybe these great presidents would have failed the Romney test when it comes to qualifying for office, but I’d bet that each and every one them would have known better than to launch such a half-baked idea on the public before thinking it through. Apparently, thinking before speaking does not come with a career in the venture capital business. Too bad as this too is a useful prerequisite for someone wishing to hold the highest office in the land.  Source

    Romney now: Teenage jobs count.

    …Ryan’s deepest connection to the world of cars could be from his teenage years, when the Republican nominee for Vice President worked for Oscar Meyer. Ryan drove the Wienermobile–and as only NPR could observe from that remote province of America called Washington, D.C., “for those who’ve never seen it, it’s a car shaped like a hot dog on a bun.”  Source

  46. 46.

    Baud

    @Amir Khalid:

    Ya know what’s scary awesome? This announcement was made on Saturday. We haven’t even made it to Monday, and already some of Mitt’s top people are distancing themselves from it.

    FTFY

  49. 49.

    Brachiator

    BTW, turns out that Sarah Palin is a Mean Girl Grifter with Mean Girl Grudges. She is talking about how she hopes that Paul Ryan gets more support from Romney than she got from McCain.

    But she still considers McCain to be a friend. Heh.

    And where are Ryan and Romney’s tax returns?

  50. 50.

    Older_Wiser

    @The Dangerman: How much tax avoidance is Ryan himself practicing?

    Looks like Ryan isn’t the “free market” success he is espouses; most of the money appears to be through his wife: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-ryan-millionaire-20120811,0,606000.story

    “Mitt Romney’s newly announced running mate reported assets in the range
    of $2 million to $7.7 million. The largest was the interest that his
    wife, Janna, holds in a trust resulting from the 2010 death of her
    mother, Prudence Little. Her interest in the trust falls in the range of
    $1 million to $5 million, Ryan reported.”

    That’s a pretty large “range”–$1M to $5M. Yeah, I know Congress is given “wide berth” when it comes to reporting exact figures.

  51. 51.

    mamayaga

    @David Koch:

    Ben Smith isn’t a reporter. He’s a republican conduit.

    Makes it even more interesting that he was a conduit for this story. It doesn’t really help Romney, unless they thought it made him out to be a he-man deciderer, and it’s certainly not worded that way. My money is that is intended to cover the asses of Republican operatives who can see dimly through the fog the looming iceberg that is the election.

  52. 52.

    Valdivia

    @Svensker:

    I have been reading this guy all day and following links to other feeds and to Israeli papers (you have to go down low because a lot happened in Egypt today and the top stuff is mostly about that) Apparently unknown to us the Israelis are now at fever pitch in war talk against Iran. Apparently something has shifted (one idiot said that it may be the likelihood of Obama winning because the Israelis don’t trust him. ugh). But truly scary. I don’t know if this is a signal to Obama, a plan B for Mitt via Bibi, or a way to prepare Israelis that war is coming.

    Given how thin these two guys are on resumes, I don’t necessarily think an attack on Iran by Israel helps Romney no?

    ETA: read this

    http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/08/7-reasons-why-israel-should-not-attack-irans-nuclear-facilities/261028/

    just wow.

  53. 53.

    John O

    I wasn’t scared about Romney until he picked Ryan. Now I am.

    He’s (Ryan) a “likable” guy for Midwestern voters, who won’t believe or understand what his politics mean.

    The VP debate will be interesting, at least. There is risk that Joe will go ballistic.

    It’s too bad most conservatives are too stupid to have read much Ayn Rand, it’s just too long, but the fantasy and the myth have power.

    At least this election will be a clear choice. Can’t remember one where the VP got more attention than Ryan and his budget are going to get. Capitalism is a dog-eat-dog philosophy (unless you’re a bank), and this GOP ticket pretty much personifies it. What scares me is that much of American mythology relies on it.

  54. 54.

    Chyron HR

    I see we’ve reached the step of Romney’s master plan where he crashes the campaign… with no survivors!

  55. 55.

    22over7

    @Valdivia:

    An attack on Iran by Israel helps no one. All the countries who buy oil from Iran will be unhappy (I’m being optimistic here) and if Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz OR turns into a parking lot, well, stratospheric gas prices will be the least of our worries.

    Personally, I think Bibi is exactly that crazy.

  57. 57.

    wrb

    @Yutsano:

    Of course when he DOES want to talk about, well, anything, it’s in private fundraisers with no journalist access

    In a quiet room

  58. 58.

    Corner Stone

    I just spoke with a sharp Democratic Congressional staffer I know who tells me that he thinks Ryan was a smart choice for Romney.

    Offered without comment.

  59. 59.

    NotMax

    Eagleton 2

    McGovern’s choice of Eagleton was a disaster, as naked prejudice and raw ignorance reared their heads and overwhelmed any semblance of rational discussion.

    Eagleton, however, remained a good man, an effective senator (he easily won re-election in ’74 with 60% of the vote) and a staunch progressive advocate after he left the Senate in the late 80s.

    Shorthanding the Veep debacle as a way to define him is more than a bit disingenuous.

    Former Sen. Thomas Eagleton had the last word at his own funeral…, urging his friends and family in a farewell letter to “go forth in love and peace — be kind to dogs — and vote Democratic.”
    __[…]
    Eagleton was remembered for his hearty belly laugh, his eccentricity and sense of humor, his generosity, and the courage to take an unpopular stand.
    __
    Friend Louis Susman said Eagleton easily could have won a fourth term in the Senate, but retired from an institution that had been “ruined by the money chase,” and become too partisan.
    __
    He called Eagleton a “giver, not a taker, who never wanted anything in return except friendship.”  Source

  60. 60.

    Amir Khalid

    @Brachiator:
    I like how Sarah Palin conveniently forgets that she spurned the (non-wardrobe related) support she did get. Just ask the debate prep team that tried to get her ready to face Joe Biden.

  61. 61.

    Corner Stone

    @Baud:

    What is the theory that says an Isreali strike on Iran hurts Obama?

    It certainly doesn’t help him any. I can smell the neocon WaPo ratfucking now where they say, “Oh! If only Obama had not bowed low before the Muslim world, and was a trusted partner for peace and security with Israel! Oh! Oh! Oh!”

  62. 62.

    Kane

    TeamObama has been planning all along to tie Romney to the Ryan budget regardless of whether Ryan was on the ticket or not. Romney’s decision to pick Ryan has only made it easier for TeamObama to tie the bow.

  63. 63.

    John O

    WWIII will help the economy, and the country virtually always rallies around a POTUS in wartime. Try not to forget that.

    I sure won’t.

  65. 65.

    Suffern Ace

    @Amir Khalid: She, like many, gets confused when support comes in the form of knowledgable people who want you to work on some deficiency. Support means unquestionable fawning.

  66. 66.

    Baud

    @Corner Stone:

    The neocons can say what they want. I think Romney benefits more from scary talk about Iran rather than an Israeli strike that neutralizes that threat.

  67. 67.

    22over7

    @John O:

    It’s up to Obama to persuade 51% of the voting populace, and 270 electors, that his ideas are better for the country than are Romney/Ryan’s. It would be this way in any case.

    Barring massive electoral fraud, which of course would never, ever happen in this country, I’m pretty confident.

  68. 68.

    Valdivia

    @22over7:

    I know it’s Goldberg but read his article on why Israel shouldn’t attack. He is completely right of course, and he is a Bibi supporter in general so you can imagine if he is pleading publicly he must be freaked out.

    @Baud:
    I don’t know–that Romney and the neocons start accusing him of being a wimp for not doing it himself. That he doesn’t send all our planes to save Israel?

    I am sure the Obama team knows what is going on and is ready for it.

  70. 70.

    Suffern Ace

    @Corner Stone: Yep. Pretty much. Had Obama bombed the mullahs on Israel’s behalf, we wouldn’t be in the position of having to broker peace between warring parties.

  71. 71.

    Baud

    @Valdivia:

    Romney and the neocons start accusing him of being a wimp for not doing it himself.

    I think most Americans would welcome someone else doing the deed for once, but you may be right.

  72. 72.

    honus

    @Valdivia: And you think that in the event of an Iranian crisis the public will turn to a guy with no foreign policy experience over the guy who ended the Iraq war, killed Bin laden and ousted Khadafy?

  73. 73.

    jaywillie

    The fact that Romney picked someone like Ryan tells us that Romney knows he can’t win this by convincing people to vote for W. Mitt Romney, and there’s very little evidence that a veep candidate can carry a deeply flawed candidate like Romney to victory. Romney also clearly believes that Ryan inoculates him from any and all questions/attacks re: Bain, his taxes, his time as MA governor, running the SLC Olympics, etc. He also knows that he had to do something to placate the base, which is not something he should need to worry about at this stage of the campaign.

    The decision was clearly moved up in an attempt to change the narrative from Romney’s disastrous overseas trip, the Bain attacks, and his unprecedented tax secrecy. As many have noted, Romney clearly didn’t make this decision because it strengthened his campaign; he made it to mask his glaring weaknesses. In the short term, it provides a distraction, but Ryan does nothing to resolve the fundamental problems that have plagued Romney since day one (which he continues to not address).

    Personally, I think the two look awkward campaigning together. And while Ryan is a competent speaker, he’s not a barnburner. His primary duty so far appears to be as answer man on issues about Mitt that Mitt can’t/won’t answer. If this notion that Ryan was picked because he can ‘best’ defend the Ryan budget is true, then the pick looks defensive. Again, another acknowledgment that Romney is incapable of selling either himself or his ideas. It’s also something of a myth that Ryan is good at selling his budget. He is not; it polls terribly. He’s the ‘best’ in the same sense that the 7th seed in the NFL playoffs is the best of all the teams disqualified from post-season play.

    There’s a huge risk that Ryan will ultimately overshadow Romney (which I think is already taking hold).

  74. 74.

    jaywillie

    The fact that Romney picked someone like Ryan tells us that Romney knows he can’t win this by convincing people to vote for W. Mitt Romney, and there’s very little evidence that a veep candidate can carry a deeply flawed candidate like Romney to victory. Romney also clearly believes that Ryan inoculates him from any and all questions/attacks re: Bain, his taxes, his time as MA governor, running the SLC Olympics, etc. He also knows that he had to do something to placate the base, which is not something he should need to worry about at this stage of the campaign.

    The decision was clearly moved up in an attempt to change the narrative from Romney’s disastrous overseas trip, the Bain attacks, and his unprecedented tax secrecy. As many have noted, Romney clearly didn’t make this decision because it strengthened his campaign; he made it to mask his glaring weaknesses. In the short term, it provides a distraction, but Ryan does nothing to resolve the fundamental problems that have plagued Romney since day one (which he continues to not address).

    Personally, I think the two look awkward campaigning together. And while Ryan is a competent speaker, he’s not a barnburner. His primary duty so far appears to be as answer man on issues about Mitt that Mitt can’t/won’t answer. If this notion that Ryan was picked because he can ‘best’ defend the Ryan budget is true, then the pick looks defensive. Again, another acknowledgment that Romney is incapable of selling either himself or his ideas. It’s also something of a myth that Ryan is good at selling his budget. He is not; it polls terribly. He’s the ‘best’ in the same sense that the 7th seed in the NFL playoffs is the best of all the teams disqualified from post-season play.

    There’s a huge risk that Ryan will ultimately overshadow Romney (which I think is already taking hold).

  76. 76.

    Sly

    So Romney’s foreign policy adviser recommended a guy with no discernible interest in foreign policy. Given the actors involved, that makes sense.

  77. 77.

    mainmati

    @Bruce S: Exactly what I have been thinking for a long time. Dan Senor, the spokesman for the CPA Sultan L. Paul Bremer, was a colossal loser then. How could he be anything but a militaristic disaster now?

  78. 78.

    NotMax

    Bibi is making noises to one-up Hillary being in Turkey* to discuss Syria and Iran (and to burnish his ‘cheese stands alone’ hawkish cred).

    Too many high level officers in the Israeli military and intelligence services recognize (and are on record about) the rank idiocy and unleashed dangers of an Israeli strike.

    *Relations between Turkey and Israel, once very close, are much, much, much more distant, tenuous and frigid after the Gaza Flotilla Raid.

  79. 79.

    WaterGirl

    @honus:

    And you think that in the event of an Iranian crisis the public will turn to a guy with no foreign policy experience over the guy who ended the Iraq war, killed Bin laden and ousted Khadafy?

    Well, when you put it that way…

    I think it used to be true that people would turn to the republicans in times of war, etc and I’m willing to bet that there are a whole lot of republicans and the MSM who haven’t updated their world view to fit with the current reality, maybe even some of these folks who are doing the war mongering.

    Me? There is no one on earth I would want driving the bus through these scary times than Barack Obama. And just like folks bolted for Obama when the economy got shaky in 2008, I think folks would instinctively run toward Obama if things go off the rails with Israel.

    My only question is whether the media would end up driving the narrative.

  80. 80.

    Corner Stone

    @jaywillie:

    The fact that Romney picked someone like Ryan tells us that Romney knows he can’t win this by convincing people to vote for W. Mitt Romney,

    No one was ever confused about this. Maybe 10% (?) of the R voters were ever voting for Romney. The rest are all voting against that godsdamned black man.

  81. 81.

    Violet

    @Brachiator:

    BTW, turns out that Sarah Palin is a Mean Girl Grifter with Mean Girl Grudges. She is talking about how she hopes that Paul Ryan gets more support from Romney than she got from McCain.

    “Turns out”? Any woman with a brain could have told you Palin’s a Mean Girl way back in 2008 when we first got a look at her. And Mean Girls hold grudges. No surprise she’s dumping all over McCain. She probably blames him for her and her family’s descent into C-level reality TV characters.

  85. 85.

    Todd

    @honus:

    And you think that in the event of an Iranian crisis the public will turn to a guy with no foreign policy experience over the guy who ended the Iraq war, killed Bin laden and ousted Khadafy?

    The sheriff is near.

  87. 87.

    amk

    appealingly wonky public image

    what kinda fucked up english is that ?

    ben smith is your hero ? really ?

    your credit credibility rating just went down a notch.

  88. 88.

    Brian R.

    @Valdivia:

    A total power grab, everyone assumes it is about Iran. So there’s Romney’s Plan B.

    If that’s his plan, he’s prepped poorly for it.

    This ticket has the least foreign policy or military experience of any GOP ticket in nearly 100 years.

  90. 90.

    Suffern Ace

    @honus: Yep. They’ll hang sequesterization around his neck. Trying to cut r military when there’s so much evil.

  91. 91.

    Hypatia's Momma

    @WaterGirl:

    There is no one on earth I would want driving the bus through these scary times than Barack Obama.

    Quoted for truth. Obama is the first Democrat for whom I’ve had full-on respect in decades. I might go re-register as a Democrat just for this election.

  92. 92.

    Suffern Ace

    @WaterGirl: Please note, though, that until Iraq I, public turned to Republicans in times of bellicose hysteria-not actual major wars. And they probably still like republicans for bellicose hysteria.

  94. 94.

    Cacti

    @jaywillie:

    and there’s very little evidence that a veep candidate can carry a deeply flawed candidate like Romney to victory

    While the choice of a VP candidate is newsworthy, they’re almost comically unimportant to how anyone votes. Dan Quayle didn’t sink Poppy Bush, Lloyd Bentsen didn’t carry Dukakis to victory. Jack Kemp didn’t make anyone start liking Bob Dole, and John Edwards didn’t flip a single southern state for Kerry.

  95. 95.

    Mike in NC

    @Older_Wiser:

    Romney’s newly announced running mate reported assets in the range of $2 million to $7.7 million. The largest was the interest that his wife, Janna, holds in a trust resulting from the 2010 death of her mother, Prudence Little.

    Gotta love all these conservative fuckers (Dubya, Romney, now Ryan) who were born on third base yet insist they just hit a triple.

  96. 96.

    CarolDuhart2

    @MattF: Good observation. It looks like the wheels are really coming off the Romney bus. Think about it: they aren’t even trying to get through the convention unified. They aren’t even waiting until the end of the campaign. They haven’t even had the first vote for the General-and they are already falling apart. How is Romney going to execute well when the pressure really really builds up during September and October? Not only that, but it’s a sure sign that his advisors don’t respect or even fear him anymore. Shades of Hillary 2008 primary race at the end.

    Compare that to the Obama’s iron-disciplined campaign. In both the 2008 and the current campaign, not a leak, not a single incident of backbiting. Sure, there were probably hurt egos both times, but it was kept behind the campaign door. And we probably won’t hear about any of it until the day they dedicate Obama’s Presidential Library.

  97. 97.

    NotMax

    @cacti

    While the choice of a VP candidate is newsworthy, they’re almost comically unimportant to how anyone votes.

    There is an argument to be made that Lieberman cost Gore votes, as there is a segment who wouldn’t vote for a ticket with a Jew on it but otherwise might have voted for Gore as essentially representing a third Clinton term.

    Whether any states would have flipped to Gore and a different running mate is unclear, but not entirely implausible.

  98. 98.

    Mike in NC

    @Brian R.:

    This ticket has the least foreign policy or military experience of any GOP ticket in nearly 100 years.

    But Willard was a Mormon missionary in hedonistic France, that must count for something, right?

  99. 99.

    Bruce S

    @Violet:

    “She probably blames (McCain) for her and her family’s descent into C-level reality TV characters.”

    Wait a minute. I thought that was coming up in the world for the Palin family. Otherwise why would she have quit a governorship to cash in? McCain’s folly was Palin’s brass ring.

  100. 100.

    Bruce S

    @mainmati:

    This probably isn’t kosher to say out loud in polite circles, but I think Senor represents something even more problematic than “militarism.” I don’t think there’s anything to keep a US citizen from privileging the interests of a political faction in another country, in Senor’s case Israel’s Likud, over the interests of the United States.

    Free speech, free country and all that. Earl Browder, the head of the CPUSA, had a perfect right to champion the interests of the Soviet Union, for example, and try to argue that there was some kind of alignment between “20th Century Americanism” and Russia’s foreign policy designs. I can’t see much difference between him and characters like Senor.

    Senor is one of those self-annointed foreign policy “experts” (read ideologues), like the Kaplan family enterprise, the AIPAC/PNAC crowd and Douglas Feith, who look at the world directly and consciously through a Likudnik lens. Their ideological commitment and zeal in defense of a foreign political faction is quite different than the perspective of the vast majority of Jewish Americans or Americans sympathetic to the Israelis, incidentally. This isn’t about being Jewish or emotionally or intellectually Zionist. It’s not even about lobbying. It’s about attempting to inject an ideology – via operatives coordinating with a foreign political faction – into the decision-making structures of official US foriegn policy.

    These folks have a right to their opinions and a right to make their case to the public. They have a right to their direct ties and alliances with the Israeli Right. But they should not be chosen to work in powerful positions or at high levels directly inside the US government foreign policy establishment.

  102. 102.

    Violet

    @Bruce S:

    Wait a minute. I thought that was coming up in the world for the Palin family. Otherwise why would she have quit a governorship to cash in? McCain’s folly was Palin’s brass ring.

    She thought she would keep the campaign-level, and immediate post-campaign-level crowds and adoration. First book she wrote, lines were around the block on her book tour. Second book, far fewer crowds. Bristol’s book, hardly anyone showed up, even when Sarah made an appearance.

    Her reality show wasn’t renewed for a second season. Her “Sarah Palin’s America” or whatever that show was on Fox, had only one episode and they never made another. Bristol’s current reality show was shoved to late night and episodes burned off.

    She quit to cash on, and she did, but not for the long term. She can’t extend her fifteen minutes of fame, no matter how hard she pimps out her daughters or forces Todd to appear on reality shows.

    I wouldn’t be surprised to see them declare bankruptcy or have other financial issues. She spends money like water through a sieve, and she can’t make money like she did. Even Fox has soured on her. Notice she pretty much only appears on Hannity’s show.

  103. 103.

    Bruce S

    @Violet:

    Wow – that’s quite a flame-out. I guess I haven’t been keeping up with the lamestream media. I need to start reading all of ’em, any of ’em that have been in front of me all these years!

  104. 104.

    Violet

    @Bruce S: Heh. I will admit to following the Palin saga. She struck me as someone with the potential to be very dangerous to the country. And initially she was, with her “death panels” phrase and other things that stuck in the national consciousness.

    I’ve been very entertained watching her star fall and watch her try to retain some relevance via reality TV. I don’t think it’s working very well and like I said, I wouldn’t be surprised to see her have some sort of financial issues down the road.

  105. 105.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Violet:
    Short term grifters, narcissists, and alcoholics refuse to believe the gravy train is capable of ending. They can’t stop spending like when the money was rolling in. They’re also very susceptible to being grifted by others, and believing they’ll get away with tax or investment fraud – since they ‘deserve’ the money, after all.

    I think the Palin family is heading for poverty, jail, a third catastrophe I didn’t anticipate, or all three. Since nobody cares about them anymore, we may never find out.

  106. 106.

    Tom Q

    @NotMax: At the time, I made that argument about West Virginia — a state even Carter ’80 and Dukakis ’88 had carried comfortably. My parents spent the early years of their marriage there (I was in fact born there); they — as Catholics — were pretty much social outcasts, and all their good friends from that time (early 50s) were Jewish/eqally outcasts.

    And Gore was the first Dem candidate save McGovern to lose WV by worse than his national margin since pre-FDR. Since then, WV has gone in the other direction, so maybe Bush just caught the early signs of it. But I can’t help but feel Lieberman on the ticket goosed the anti-Gore feeling.

    And yes, that one state would have been enough to reverse the electoral college.

  107. 107.

    Joel

    Pretty ambivalent on Ryan, actually. I don’t think it changes the dynamic of the race, which is good news for our side.

  109. 109.

    karen marie

    @Violet: Oh, please — that’s the only reason she still calls McCain “friend.” If not for him, she wouldn’t even have that.

  110. 110.

    karen marie

    Republican National Committee Chairman Rubric Seen Pie said in a statement he was “disappointed” Palin won’t make it. “Gov. Palin has been a force in our party and while I am disappointed she won’t be in Tampa I know she will continue to be actively engaged in replacing Barack Obama,” he said.

    I had seen reports that Palin had rented space in Tampa but the google reveals that she had been “scouting” space in Tampa.

    The Romney camp will not comment on Palin, or on plans for the convention, but one adviser associated with the campaign suggested that Palin would be prohibited from speaking at the Republican convention by her contract with Fox News. “It’s true I’m prohibited from doing some things,” Palin says, “but this is the first I’ve heard anyone suggest that as an excuse, er, reason to stay away from engaging in the presidential race. I’m quite confident Fox’s top brass would never strip anyone of their First Amendment rights in this regard.” (Fox says her contract would not prohibit speaking at the convention if she sought permission.)
    __
    Palin is keeping the dates open in late August, just in case.

    Everybody together now — “awwwwwww!”

  111. 111.

    Nutella

    @Valdivia:

    Bibi just changed the law so that he can pass things through Parliament or stop things from going anywhere in parliament. A total power grab, everyone assumes it is about Iran.

    Egypt is also seeing some dramatic changes in government. The new president is challenging the military. It will be very interesting to see how that shakes out.

  112. 112.

    karen marie

    Anagrams for Mitt Romney:

    “Men or my tit”
    “Met in my rot”

    For Paul Ryan:

    “Lunar Yap”
    “Airy Pus Vandal”

    If you add in Ryan’s middle name, Davis:

    “Saliva Yard Pun”
    “Playa and Virus”

  113. 113.

    Violet

    @karen marie: If she still thinks he’s a friend, why did she put tape over his name on her campaign hat?

    There’s no love lost there, not after McCain’s advisers threw her under the bus with the “Game Change” book and other comments made to the media.

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