Paul Ryan rules out White House bid (again)

[SillyAmerican]

If he didn't want the nomination, then this what he would say. But this is also probably what he should say if he did want the nomination. The only way a compromise candidate could have a chance in the general is if they didn't look like they tried to "steal" the nomination. So I don't really care about his denial (which would also have a lot more impact if he hadn't denied interesting in Speaker).

True enough.

[BlueSwan]

Paul Ryan wants everybody to think "I wish that guy was our candidate" and he is succeeding pretty well, setting himself up as the early favourite for the 2020 nomination. I do believe, however, that if offered the nomination as a compromise candidate, he would take it. He wants to be president and the 2020 nomination is far from certain, especially not given that he has a tough road ahead of him as speaker of the house, which is not a job that typically leads to the presidency.

[Slander and/or Libel]

Paul Ryan wants everybody to think "I wish that guy was our candidate" and he is succeeding pretty well, setting himself up as the early favourite for the 2020 nomination. I do believe, however, that if offered the nomination as a compromise candidate, he would take it. He wants to be president and the 2020 nomination is far from certain, especially not given that he has a tough road ahead of him as speaker of the house, which is not a job that typically leads to the presidency.

Yes yes yes. The roadblocks ahead of him as Speaker are the same ones that tanked Boehner, and there's no reason to believe Ryan is going to be able to manage them better than anybody else could. It's not that Boehner was a bad Speaker, it's that with his caucus, nobody could possibly be a good one. We're going to see that, and it's going to damage Ryan more than people are imagining.