Conservatives Happy, but Nervous, About Paul Ryan VP Pick

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks at a rally in Manassas, Va., during his "Plan for a Stronger Middle Class" bus tour. He announced Saturday morning that Rep. Paul Ryan would be his running mate. (Photo By Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call)

For Republicans, call Paul Ryan the schizophrenic choice.

Even as they celebrated Mitt Romney’s decision to select the House Budget chairman as his vice presidential running mate, they acknowledged it carries political risks for the GOP ticket in the November battle against President Barack Obama. Democrats are uniformly elated, believing that the Wisconsin lawmaker’s blueprint to overhaul Medicare could be a dagger to the heart of the Romney campaign — and a lifeboat for Obama, whose re-election is threatened by a potential wave of voter discontent.

Conversations with Republican professionals and Twitter exchanges with some of my “very” conservative followers since Saturday’s announcement reveal the GOP’s split personality over the Ryan pick.

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House Democrats Elated by Paul Ryan Pick. Should They Be?

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel said the party couldn't be more pleased with the contrast created by Rep. Paul Ryan's elevation to vice presidential nominee. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

If voters aren’t familiar yet with the “the Ryan budget,” they will be soon — and House Democrats couldn’t be happier about it.

Democrats already banked on using House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s (Wis.) proposed Medicare cuts as their primary attack point against the House GOP this fall, when the party faces tough odds in winning back the majority.

This morning, presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney promoted the budget’s author to the national ticket — effectively making the plan a household name. An elated Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee encouraged its candidates to start shooting out press releases overnight.

“I just nominated Mitt Romney to be one of the DCCC’s newest Majority Makers,” DCCC Chairman Steve Israel (N.Y.) said today in a phone interview. “He may have handed the majority to us with his choice of Paul Ryan. The Ryan budget is a debate we know we win — and Mitt Romney just nationalized the debate.”

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Wisconsin: Paul Ryan Still Heavily Favored Over Rob Zerban Back Home

As Rep. Paul Ryan embarks on a national campaign, he will still have to run for re-election for his House seat.

Wisconsin law allows Ryan to seek both the vice presidency and another term in the House, and that is the understanding of what he will do, according to a Congressional campaign spokesman.

Ryan’s 1st district includes Republican pockets in the southeastern part of the state, and he won re-election last cycle by a 2-to-1 margin. The district was improved for him in redistricting. All of these points indicate that his re-election race should not be competitive, and Roll Call rates this race as Safe Republican.

But even before Ryan was picked as the vice presidential nominee, Democrats were making noise about giving him more of a race than he’s used to. He has a wealthy Democratic opponent, Rob Zerban, who has worked relentlessly to convince the political establishment that this is a real race. His argument is that Ryan has not had a serious opponent in years and that there is an opportunity for an organized Democrat to force an upset. Full story

Mitt Romney Picks Paul Ryan as Running Mate

(Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Updated 7:19 a.m. | Mitt Romney has tapped Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan to be his vice presidential running mate, his campaign announced Saturday morning.

Official word of the pick came via a press release a little after 7 a.m. titled “Mitt Romney & Paul Ryan: America’s Comeback Team.” The pick was first reported in the wee hours of Saturday morning by NBC News’ Chuck Todd, who cited three sources.

The announcement will come Saturday morning in Norfolk, Va., in front of the USS Wisconsin. The event is the first stop of a multiday campaign bus tour for Romney and his newly minted running mate.

Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, has taken on an increased national profile as the architect of the GOP’s budget plan that proposes dramatic reforms to entitlement programs.

His stock as a VP pick rose in recent weeks as a chorus of conservatives, including the Weekly Standard and Wall Street Journal, publicly encouraged Romney to make a bold choice with Ryan. The pick is viewed as likely to energize the Republican base. Full story

Mitt Romney to Announce VP Pick Saturday

(Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call)

After weeks and months of speculation about whom Mitt Romney will tap to be his vice presidential running mate, the presumptive GOP nominee will unveil his pick on Saturday morning in Norfolk, Va.

Romney’s campaign released a media advisory just after 11 p.m. tonight announcing that the news would come as the former Massachusetts governor kicks off of his bus tour. Full story

Presidential Campaigns Launch New Apps

Want to be the first to know who Mitt Romney chooses as his vice presidential running mate? Starting today, there’s an app for that.

Want to get the details on volunteer opportunities for President Barack Obama’s campaign? There’s an app for that, too. Full story

New Hampshire: Tim Pawlenty to Fundraise in August

(Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Barring any unforeseen schedule changes or major Romney campaign decisions, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will head to Manchester for the state GOP Ice Cream Social on Aug. 11.

It is an interesting selection of a headliner. Pawlenty is at the center of speculation to be presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney’s pick for vice president. Only about two weeks ago, fellow VP contender Sen. Rob Portman (Ohio) also traveled to New Hampshire for a state party event.

By all accounts, New Hampshire will be a central battleground in the presidential race in the fall.

According to the state GOP Facebook invite, tickets for the Pawlenty event will cost $20.12.

Report: Mitch Daniels to Become President … of Purdue University

(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Is it finally time to count Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) out of the veepstakes?

The Indianapolis Star confirmed the popular outgoing governor will become the next president of Purdue University.

Early this year, Republicans often mentioned Daniels as a potential running mate for presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney. But in recent interviews, Daniels never seemed too jazzed about the possibility of coming back to Washington, D.C., to serve in his administration. Full story

Quiet on Veep, Paul Ryan Preps to Help Mitt Romney

(Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call)

If Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is angling to be Mitt Romney’s running mate, he’s nailed the art of campaigning for the job.

In an interview Thursday, the House Budget chairman declined to discuss the topic, waving me off mid-question as I tried to gauge his interest in being selected as the 2012 vice presidential nominee.

Has Ryan given the Romney campaign permission to vet him? Is the Congressman’s wife on board should the Republican presidential nominee ask him to serve? Ryan isn’t talking, which, ironically, is the best strategy if he’s interested in the job.

“Yeah, I’m not going to get into that stuff,” Ryan said during a conversation in his Capitol Hill office. “I’m not going to comment on the inner workings of their campaign. I don’t see any purpose in doing that.”

A youthful 42, Ryan appeared otherwise relaxed, and he engaged without hesitating on the other questions posed to him throughout an interview that was wedged between House votes and scheduled phone calls. The state of the Congressman’s relationship with Romney was not off limits.

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Mitch Daniels: No One Should Rule Out VP Bid

(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) said no one should ever turn down an offer for the vice presidential nomination, which is why he hopes no one ever asks him to join the national ticket.

“The one thing I don’t think you should say is, if asked to serve the country, ‘No’. I don’t think anybody should say that,” Daniels said in a wide-ranging interview with Roll Call.  “But other than that, [I] don’t want to, don’t intend to, hope not to,  don’t expect to, and I think there are better choices.”

Days after Mitt Romney became the GOP’s presumptive nominee for president, several of the most-mentioned vice presidential contenders told media outlets that they’re not interested in the gig — statements widely interpreted by insiders as political deflection. Daniels came close to shutting the door himself last weekend, telling “Fox News Sunday” that, if asked to be Romney’s running mate, he’d urge the White House hopeful to reconsider.

But on Wednesday afternoon, during an interview with Roll Call in his expansive office at the state Capitol, Daniels explained his own ambitions in more detail.

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Paul Ryan Endorses Mitt Romney

(Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) became the 93rd Member to endorse Mitt Romney this morning.

In an interview with “Fox & Friends,” Ryan stressed Romney’s capacity to serve as president and his electability.

“I believe he’s the right person for the job, and I think this primary has been productive. I think it’s been constructive up till now,” he said. “I think it’s made the candidates better, but I think we’re entering a phase where it could become counter-productive if this drags on much longer.” Full story

Rubio: Convention Fight ‘Recipe for Disaster’

(Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Sen. Marco Rubio said all of the things you’d expect in a TV interview explaining his decision to back Mitt Romney for president.

The Florida Republican said Romney offers “such a stark contrast” to President Barack Obama’s record, adding that “I have zero doubt in my mind that Mitt Romney will govern as a conservative.”

But it’s what else Rubio said during the interview on Fox’s “Hannity” that caught my attention. Rubio appeared to set about very purposely to shoot down the notion — currently being promoted by former Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) and ex-Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.) — that a contested or brokered nominating convention would be good for the Republican Party’s chances of defeating Obama on Nov. 6.

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Marco Rubio Endorses Mitt Romney

(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Nearly two months after the Florida primary, Sen. Marco Rubio endorsed Mitt Romney for president.

In an appearance on Sean Hannity’s show on Fox, the first-term Florida Republican said Romney had “earned this nomination” and criticized talk of an open convention.

“I think that’s a recipe for delivering four more years of Barack Obama,” he said.

As a Hispanic lawmaker from a key swing state, Rubio has been discussed as a vice presidential candidate since he won election to the Senate in 2010. Full story