Was Paul Ryan a good VP pick for Mitt Romney?

[moderatevoter]

I was not a fan of this pick at all. I remember my friend texted me when he heard the news, and I didn't believe him.

Someone brought this up earlier, but I actually thought Bob McDonnell would have been a fantastic pick until the Ultrasound Bill in the General Assembly. He was a very popular Governor (his approval rating was mid-60% for a long time), he had campaigned on downplaying social issues to focus more on the economy and jobs, and he would have pacified the base without embarrassing the ticket. I know plenty of Democrats here who had very little to no objection with him. I think he could have at least provided a small bump in Virginia.

After McDonnell went downhill, I thought Rubio should have been the pick -- this was still when Rubio's stock was high. It would have been a fairly exciting pick, and probably not destructive a la Palin. Rubio probably helps some in Florida, and Rubio might have been better in that debate against Biden.

The Ryan pick was just bad for a variety of reasons. I know he was trying to make inroads in the Midwest, but Ryan has never won a statewide race. Not to mention, the association with House Republicans and the Ryan Budget was an easy campaign target for Democrats. I remember reading that the Ryan pick scared off many Senior voters in Florida, especially. I also need to add that I think Ryan is frankly very awkward and not particularly charismatic. He reminds me of that nerd in high school who would know an ungodly amount of facts about something, and would constantly drone on about it, to the point where people didn't really understand what his point was.

All in all, it wouldn't have been a perfect pick either, but I think I would have picked Rubio, and then Portman or Pawlenty.

[moderatevoter]

Well Romney would have lost regardless. Now I think Gore / Graham could have won Florida by an unstealable margin and therefore the election. Lieberman was a piss poor choice by Gore.

Yeah, I agree with you that he would have lost regardless. I just think Ryan was a bad pick from the start.