Was Paul Ryan a good VP pick for Mitt Romney?
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  Was Paul Ryan a good VP pick for Mitt Romney?
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Question: Was Paul Ryan a good VP pick for Mitt Romney?
#1
Yes
 
#2
No
 
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Total Voters: 158

Author Topic: Was Paul Ryan a good VP pick for Mitt Romney?  (Read 23163 times)
Badger
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« Reply #25 on: June 26, 2014, 05:17:33 PM »

No. Rubio probably would've been a better choice. Or Portman or Pawlenty (in that order) if they wanted to play it safe.
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Fuzzy Stands With His Friend, Chairman Sanchez
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« Reply #26 on: June 26, 2014, 08:47:16 PM »

I checked "no" because a mere Representative doesn't have the prestige to bring in a state, unless he is in his/her party's leadership.  Then, the candidate drags the ticket down by attaching the negative's of their party's Congressional leadership to the national ticket.

If I were Romney, I'd have picked Portman; he would have, IMO, made just enough difference to bring in Ohio.  That's if I limited myself to guys Romney was considering.  If I wanted a guy that would have added gravitas to the ticket, I'd have gone for Tom Ridge, and I'd have not backed down from the Tea Party types.  Ridge had stature and would have helped Romney carry PA. 
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dmmidmi
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« Reply #27 on: June 27, 2014, 07:34:16 AM »

He didn't damage the ticket, so yes.

The downside risk on VP picks is much higher than the likelihood that a running mate will yield any electoral benefit. A candidate who avoids a Palin or Eagleton situation has succeeded.

This. Paul Ryan was a low-risk choice in a decision where a low-risk choice is nearly always the best choice.
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Oldiesfreak1854
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« Reply #28 on: June 27, 2014, 02:51:14 PM »

He didn't damage the ticket, so yes.

The downside risk on VP picks is much higher than the likelihood that a running mate will yield any electoral benefit. A candidate who avoids a Palin or Eagleton situation has succeeded.

This. Paul Ryan was a low-risk choice in a decision where a low-risk choice is nearly always the best choice.
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NHLiberal
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« Reply #29 on: June 27, 2014, 07:21:42 PM »

Here's the issue

Kelly Ayotte - Too inexperienced (had only been in the Senate for 1.5 years); too similar to Romney
Chris Christie - Too inexperienced (had only been Governor for 2.5 years); too brash; would upstage Romney
John Cornyn - Senate leadership; boring white guy
Mitch Daniels - Boring white guy; had job at Purdue lined up; probably would have declined for same reasons he didn't run for President
Bill Frist - Boring white guy; out of Senate for too long; doing other things and probably wouldn't have been interested
Mike Huckabee - Boring white guy; too socially conservative; too controversial; wrapped up in other pursuits
Bob McDonnell - Corrupt
Tim Pawlenty - Incredibly bland; no advantages that Ryan doesn't bring
Rob Portman - Endorsed SSM and would have done so even had Romney not picked him; boring white guy; bland
Marco Rubio - Too inexperienced (had only been in the Senate for 1.5 years); would not have performed well on national stage
 

...and Paul Ryan. The best choice? Certainly was never realistically going to deliver Wisconsin or beat Biden in the debate, would repel older voters due to Medicare and the Ryan budget, and had unfortunate ties to the House leadership, but was also young, handsome, solidly conservative without being a scary firebreather, wonkish, and reasonably accomplished

Romney really didn't have any good choices.
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IceSpear
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« Reply #30 on: June 27, 2014, 08:15:56 PM »

Here's the issue

Kelly Ayotte - Too inexperienced (had only been in the Senate for 1.5 years); too similar to Romney
Chris Christie - Too inexperienced (had only been Governor for 2.5 years); too brash; would upstage Romney
John Cornyn - Senate leadership; boring white guy
Mitch Daniels - Boring white guy; had job at Purdue lined up; probably would have declined for same reasons he didn't run for President
Bill Frist - Boring white guy; out of Senate for too long; doing other things and probably wouldn't have been interested
Mike Huckabee - Boring white guy; too socially conservative; too controversial; wrapped up in other pursuits
Bob McDonnell - Corrupt
Tim Pawlenty - Incredibly bland; no advantages that Ryan doesn't bring
Rob Portman - Endorsed SSM and would have done so even had Romney not picked him; boring white guy; bland
Marco Rubio - Too inexperienced (had only been in the Senate for 1.5 years); would not have performed well on national stage
 

...and Paul Ryan. The best choice? Certainly was never realistically going to deliver Wisconsin or beat Biden in the debate, would repel older voters due to Medicare and the Ryan budget, and had unfortunate ties to the House leadership, but was also young, handsome, solidly conservative without being a scary firebreather, wonkish, and reasonably accomplished

Romney really didn't have any good choices.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but nobody knew at the time McDonnell was corrupt. And nobody knew that Portman would endorse SSM either. So those two were easily better choices than Ryan.
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« Reply #31 on: June 27, 2014, 08:48:58 PM »

Here's the issue

Kelly Ayotte - Too inexperienced (had only been in the Senate for 1.5 years); too similar to Romney
Chris Christie - Too inexperienced (had only been Governor for 2.5 years); too brash; would upstage Romney
John Cornyn - Senate leadership; boring white guy
Mitch Daniels - Boring white guy; had job at Purdue lined up; probably would have declined for same reasons he didn't run for President
Bill Frist - Boring white guy; out of Senate for too long; doing other things and probably wouldn't have been interested
Mike Huckabee - Boring white guy; too socially conservative; too controversial; wrapped up in other pursuits
Bob McDonnell - Corrupt
Tim Pawlenty - Incredibly bland; no advantages that Ryan doesn't bring
Rob Portman - Endorsed SSM and would have done so even had Romney not picked him; boring white guy; bland
Marco Rubio - Too inexperienced (had only been in the Senate for 1.5 years); would not have performed well on national stage
 

...and Paul Ryan. The best choice? Certainly was never realistically going to deliver Wisconsin or beat Biden in the debate, would repel older voters due to Medicare and the Ryan budget, and had unfortunate ties to the House leadership, but was also young, handsome, solidly conservative without being a scary firebreather, wonkish, and reasonably accomplished

Romney really didn't have any good choices.
Although very bland, Pawlenty may have made a difference in Iowa and Minnesota, Cornyn would have made Romney stronger in the South
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NHLiberal
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« Reply #32 on: June 27, 2014, 09:28:11 PM »

Here's the issue

Kelly Ayotte - Too inexperienced (had only been in the Senate for 1.5 years); too similar to Romney
Chris Christie - Too inexperienced (had only been Governor for 2.5 years); too brash; would upstage Romney
John Cornyn - Senate leadership; boring white guy
Mitch Daniels - Boring white guy; had job at Purdue lined up; probably would have declined for same reasons he didn't run for President
Bill Frist - Boring white guy; out of Senate for too long; doing other things and probably wouldn't have been interested
Mike Huckabee - Boring white guy; too socially conservative; too controversial; wrapped up in other pursuits
Bob McDonnell - Corrupt
Tim Pawlenty - Incredibly bland; no advantages that Ryan doesn't bring
Rob Portman - Endorsed SSM and would have done so even had Romney not picked him; boring white guy; bland
Marco Rubio - Too inexperienced (had only been in the Senate for 1.5 years); would not have performed well on national stage
 

...and Paul Ryan. The best choice? Certainly was never realistically going to deliver Wisconsin or beat Biden in the debate, would repel older voters due to Medicare and the Ryan budget, and had unfortunate ties to the House leadership, but was also young, handsome, solidly conservative without being a scary firebreather, wonkish, and reasonably accomplished

Romney really didn't have any good choices.
Although very bland, Pawlenty may have made a difference in Iowa and Minnesota, Cornyn would have made Romney stronger in the South

But Romney won in the South. Unless you are implying that Cornyn would have flipped Virginia and Florida, in which case you are wrong.
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TJ in Oregon
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« Reply #33 on: August 02, 2014, 10:08:24 PM »

Here's the issue

Kelly Ayotte - Too inexperienced (had only been in the Senate for 1.5 years); too similar to Romney
Chris Christie - Too inexperienced (had only been Governor for 2.5 years); too brash; would upstage Romney
John Cornyn - Senate leadership; boring white guy
Mitch Daniels - Boring white guy; had job at Purdue lined up; probably would have declined for same reasons he didn't run for President
Bill Frist - Boring white guy; out of Senate for too long; doing other things and probably wouldn't have been interested
Mike Huckabee - Boring white guy; too socially conservative; too controversial; wrapped up in other pursuits
Bob McDonnell - Corrupt
Tim Pawlenty - Incredibly bland; no advantages that Ryan doesn't bring
Rob Portman - Endorsed SSM and would have done so even had Romney not picked him; boring white guy; bland
Marco Rubio - Too inexperienced (had only been in the Senate for 1.5 years); would not have performed well on national stage
 

...and Paul Ryan. The best choice? Certainly was never realistically going to deliver Wisconsin or beat Biden in the debate, would repel older voters due to Medicare and the Ryan budget, and had unfortunate ties to the House leadership, but was also young, handsome, solidly conservative without being a scary firebreather, wonkish, and reasonably accomplished

Romney really didn't have any good choices.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but nobody knew at the time McDonnell was corrupt. And nobody knew that Portman would endorse SSM either. So those two were easily better choices than Ryan.

Romney knew Portman would endorse SSM at some point after the campaign. Portman told the campaign that during his vetting as a possible VP candidate. Portman has said all of this publically since then and informed Romney so Mitt would know ahead of time and not be blindsided. It's entirely possible would have picked Portman otherwise, but we'll never know.
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Clarko95 📚💰📈
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« Reply #34 on: August 02, 2014, 10:30:07 PM »
« Edited: September 03, 2014, 08:29:41 PM by Clarko95 »


I'd say he did, by bringing the association with the GOP House and his widely disparaged budget plan, further painting Romney as out-of-touch and giving Democrats tons of ammo to attack Romney with.

But I read in the Romney Readiness Project that the main reason he was picked was because he and Romney went together like clockwork. Ryan was the numbers and data guy like Romney, and would act like "an adviser reporting to the manager". Their personalities clicked.

Of course, in the end Obama was going to win.
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windjammer
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« Reply #35 on: August 10, 2014, 09:34:53 AM »

Well,
He wasn't bad, he wasn't good. It changed absolutely nothing.
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New_Conservative
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« Reply #36 on: October 11, 2014, 10:35:24 AM »

He was a terrible choice, he should've went with Rubio or Pawlenty.
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Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook
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« Reply #37 on: October 11, 2014, 04:54:17 PM »

No, because rising stars have historically done worse as VP's.
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tpfkaw
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« Reply #38 on: October 11, 2014, 07:41:21 PM »

Should've went with Brian Sandoval.
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porky88
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« Reply #39 on: October 11, 2014, 08:50:55 PM »

The Romney campaign seem overconfident they would win. I think they picked Ryan to help them govern, not to put Wisconsin in play or sway undecided voters. Ryan’s influence with house conservatives may have been crucial to easing their concerns, as Romney would have had to comprise with moderate senate dems in order for legislation to get to this desk.
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Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers
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« Reply #40 on: October 12, 2014, 12:59:41 PM »

GOP havent successfully picked good VP candidates, Palin, too. Ryan was agsinst Bowles Simpson, Dems wouldnt bite.
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DS0816
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« Reply #41 on: November 01, 2014, 05:30:15 AM »

He was perfect.
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Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck
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« Reply #42 on: November 01, 2014, 11:02:00 AM »

No, because he was a carbon-copy of Mitt.  Picking somebody from the upper Midwest was the right idea, but he needed to go with someone a bit more folksy.  An upper-middle class Randian?  He didn't change anybody's mind in Ohio, which should've been his only strategic concern.  Goes to show how clueless Mitt was.  Probably thought he put Wisconsin in his back pocket in one fell swoop.
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hopper
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« Reply #43 on: November 10, 2014, 02:28:37 PM »

At the time it I though Pawlenty would be the VP candidate. The Ryan pick I was not expecting. Maybe Rubio would have been a better fit for Romney than Ryan or Pawlenty looking back on it.
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Fuzzy Stands With His Friend, Chairman Sanchez
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« Reply #44 on: April 29, 2015, 05:02:55 PM »

Portman was, in truth, Romney's best choice, in that he could have helped in Ohio more than Ryan could help in Wisconsin.  Ohio is a far more swing state than Wisconsin, which has gone for every Democrat since Michael Dukakis.  His experience with the Bush Administration was, IMO, awfulized; people expect someone on a party's national ticket to have some ties to their party's last Presidential Administration. 
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Redban
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« Reply #45 on: March 09, 2020, 09:19:54 AM »

Ryan didn't help him win any states. But when have VP picks ever had such big effect on a race?  People voted for or against Romney / Obama. Ryan (and Biden) didn't sway anyone, for or against.

A good VP selection is one that neither helps nor hurts the ticket. And Ryan fit that category. He didn't embarrass himself or Romney. He appeared intelligent. He gave good speeches.

Romney would have lost with Pawlenty, Rubio, Christie, or Portman too.
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morgankingsley
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« Reply #46 on: March 09, 2020, 08:47:13 PM »

He wasn't a bad pick per se, but not a good one either as he did not deliver any states to Romney since we already knew IN and NC would flip
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brucejoel99
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« Reply #47 on: March 14, 2020, 08:46:14 PM »

He was a good pick if the goal was to placate the base, which he needed out in droves if he was gonna beat Obama. But that's it, really. Placating the party base with an Ayn Randian fantasy did nothing to stop steering the boat into certain doom as moderates & independents abandoned ship. Ryan didn't help win a swing state, nor did he attract women; if anything, he turned off a lot of old people that rely on Medicare & Social Security. So, on balance, no.
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538Electoral
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« Reply #48 on: March 14, 2020, 10:35:18 PM »

He should've picked Santorum.
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« Reply #49 on: March 14, 2020, 11:09:21 PM »

Ryan actively harmed the ticket by reinforcing the perception of Romney as a heartless plutocrat. People forget this today because Romney is a relative moderate on the flashpoint issues of the Trump era, but at the time he came across as a cartoonishly extreme Scrooge McDuck type, and Ryan cemented that. "Soothing Midwesterner" was the right instinct but someone with a more "common touch" image, or an image that could conceivably have been "spun" in that direction (which Ryan's couldn't have been in a month of Sundays), would have gone over better.
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