DAYTON, Ohio — Paul Ryan jogged onto the stage at his alma
mater Wednesday afternoon and jokingly asked the crowd at Miami
University, “Did my professor say good things about me?”
Ryan was referring to Richard Hart, the economics professor who
became an early mentor to the young Wisconsin native who spent four
years at the university known to college football fans as “Miami of
Ohio,” to distinguish it from what fans of the Red Hawks refer to
as “that Florida school.” And indeed, Professor Hart did have good
things to say about his former student.
“Paul is a man of ideas, a man of vision,” Hart said during his
introduction, recalling how he had discussed with Ryan the ideas of
economists Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, and Milton
Friedman.
Two decades after graduating from Miami, Ryan has suddenly
become the university’s most famous alumnus, even more famous than
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. The formative
influence Hart had on the young Ryan has, just as suddenly, made
Hart one of the nation’s most famous economics professors. In the
past five days, Hart has been interviewed by reporters from the
Washington Post and dozens of other news organizations seeking
insight into the views of Ryan, the 42-year-old House Budget
Committee chairman tapped Saturday as Republican Mitt Romney’s
vice-presidential running mate.
No Miami alumnus has ever had a homecoming like the one Ryan got
Wednesday, as thousands lined up to get into the quad where Ryan
spoke after introductions by Gov. John Kasich, Sen. Rob Portman and
Hart. Attendees had to enter the venue through metal detectors and
the crowd was under constant surveillance by Secret Service agents,
some of them posted atop the roofs of nearby campus buildings.
Ryan began his Miami speech by paying tribute to the staples of
undergraduate life at the campus in Oxford, Ohio. Among other
things, Ryan proclaimed his love for the “Five Way,” a dish of
spaghetti, cheese, chili, beans and onions served at the Skyline
Chili restaurant on High Street. He soon turned his attention to
the issues of the campaign, telling the crowd: “We are here to
offer you a clear choice.”
Ryan mentioned that President Obama had given a speech Wednesday
about Medicare, and the Republican issued a bold challenge. “We
want this debate, we need this debate, and we will win this
debate,” Ryan said. The Romney campaign has already begun that
debate,
issuing a press release Wednesday pointing out that Obama’s
campaign spokeswoman called more than $700 billion in cuts to
Medicare — cuts used to fund the so-called Obamacare health
insurance program — “savings we’ve already achieved.”
Ryan’s mastery of fiscal and economic details prompted blogger
David
“Iowahawk” Burge to remark: “Paul Ryan represents Obama’s most
horrifying nightmare: math.” If voters can be made to focus on the
numbers — including the administration’s record deficit spending
and historically high unemployment — it seems unlikely that the
Democrat incumbent can be re-elected. And polls indicate that the
“Ryan Effect” may already be making a difference. Not only does the
Romney-Ryan ticket now lead both the Gallup
and
Rasmussen national tracking polls, but the
latest Ohio polls also indicate a bounce for the Republicans
since Ryan was announced as Romney’s running mate.
No poll is necssary to confirm a fact evident to any reporter
who has covered the Romney campaign the past five days: Crowds are
bigger and more enthusiastic, and the choice of Ryan has not only
energized grassroots support, but appears also to have energized
Romney, whose attacks on Obama’s policies have become more intense
and aggressive. Republicans now appear fired up for a fighting
campaign this fall, and nowhere will the fight be fiercer than in
Ohio, a state whose 18 Electoral College votes have been decisive
in previous elections.
“Ohio is so important,” Ryan told the crowd who turned out for
his homecoming visit to Miami University. “You know this. You’re
used to it. The Buckeye State could very well determine the future
of our country for a long time.… This is the kind of election that
shapes generations.”
Ryan concluded by expressing confidence that the Republicans
will win that election: “We can get this economy growing. We can
keep the government limited. We can get the job done. We can put
people back to work. Together we can get this done.”
