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The Spectacle Blog
1. Obviously, there was no bigger news than Mitt Romney tapping Paul Ryan to be his running mate. Romney has added to his generally policy-phobic campaign one of the brightest, most articulate defenders of a comprehensive fiscal policy in the entire party.
2. For the Ryan pick to work, it must be part of a larger amping up of the campaign’s message: sharpening and adding meat to the economic argument against President Obama, presenting a positive case for a ticket that can rescue the government from Greece-like insolvency, and pushing back the Democratic narrative that Republicans don’t understand regular people. Ryan should also be utilized in discussions of social issues like life, not just economics. Simply plugging Ryan into the existing campaign will not work. Too vulnerable to charges that Republicans see people as numbers on a balance sheet.
3. Expect the Republican ticket to pound hard on the idea that the Democrats are actually cutting Medicare for current recipients, which is not what Romney-Ryan are proposing to do. The argument has the benefit of being true, though there is no guarantee it will work as it runs counter to the Democrats longstanding image as the party of Medicare.
4. There have been a lot of comparisons between Romney-Ryan and Dole-Kemp. I’ve made them myself, but I do think there is one important distinction. Jack Kemp was well past his prime in 1996: out of Congress for eight years, didn’t get very far in his 1988 presidential campaign, mostly sidelined in the first Bush administration, increasingly a conservative hero of the previous decade like Paul Laxalt or Phil Crane. That’s not a criticism of any of these men, but it reflects where they were in their political careers at the time.
Paul Ryan was chosen while he is still a rising figure in the party and still someone setting the fiscal agenda. Ryan is young (Kemp was 61 in 1996), has no losing campaigns to his name, and his vice presidential bid has less of a valedictory feel to it. And I say that as someone who circa 1994 wanted Kemp on top of the ‘96 ticket. One test for Ryan is whether he can become as popular with conservative voters as he already is among conservative journalists and policy analysts.
5. Should Romney talk about the big banks? Taking on “too big to fail” will help obviate the perceived need for future bailouts, a political advantage for a Republican ticket with two TARP supporters. It also lets Romney be populist without violating free-market principles and play against type.
6. On Tuesday, Wisconsin voters will decide a contentious Republican primary. The three main candidates are Tommy Thompson, the longtime former governor and Bush administration HHS secretary (plus short-term 2008 presidential candidate), businessman Eric Hovde, and conservative former Congressman Mark Neumann. Thompson has recently deteroriated from the welfare reform-pioneering governor of the '80s and '90s to establishment type who has flirted with everything form embryo-destructive stem-cell research to early versions of Obamacare. Hovde is hitting everyone else on taxes even though he hasn’t taken the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. Neumann ran a widely panned campaign against Scott Walker, who has proven conservative enough.
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More Blog Posts by W. James Antle, III
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/08/12/weekend-political-wrap-up-paul
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Reggie Love| 8.12.12 @ 2:18PM
Good old Phil Crane. My dad supported him in 1980!
RJ| 8.12.12 @ 4:21PM
#4 - Jack Kemp's 86 VP run was disappointing. He came in with such promise, but quickly turned into a Johnny One-Note.
#5 - Sure Romney should take on the big banks. The best thing Jon Huntsman said in the primary campaign was that if a bank is too big to fail, it is too big. If I recall correctly, during the banking crisis of 2008/9 the Federal government promoted bank consolidation. In any event, it is too risky to have that much financial power consolidated in just a few big banks. A break-up under the antitrust laws should be considered as a step away from crony-capitalism.
Bushiite| 8.12.12 @ 5:14PM
I disagree. Big banks are here to stay. The best thing we can do is to make sure that when they get in trouble, there are good Republicans in Congress, like Paul Ryan, to help them out.
aware| 8.12.12 @ 5:15PM
RJ, The Too Big Too Fails now hold 8.5 trillion, 56% of our economy, in assets. Up from 43% five years ago. Proves you don't own politicians for nothing.
Wonder what happens when the same people, running the same operations, the same way, with the same "regulators" "overseeing" them, turns out the same way.
I think it is naive to expect Romney to "take on" his biggest contributors.
RJ| 8.12.12 @ 6:41PM
You are right. We would need the right leader and the right set of circumstances to prevail. I don't see it on the radar today, but you never know what tomorrow will bring. We should keep up the campaign for limited government, equal protection under the law, and the end of crony capitalism.
Bob Grant| 8.12.12 @ 6:09PM
RINOism is like herpes: you can't ever get rid of it and flareups occur when the immune system (physical or political) is vulnerable.
Tommy Thompson has a weak immune system. The Tea Party is on a roll. Let's continue this in Wisconsin.
Kingofthenet| 8.12.12 @ 6:15PM
If I were a Conservative, I'd be sweating this fact, President Obama can lose ALL swing states except Florida and the result would look like this:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZO1v.....yanMap.jpg
chuck| 8.12.12 @ 9:18PM
Obama is going to lose Florida.
Dai Alanye | 8.13.12 @ 2:38AM
Obama and company seem mighty nervous, to the point of making unforced errors. They're desperate for a Republican scandal. Not finding any, they are forced to make them up from whole cloth. Look forward to an invasion of Iran come October. It's BO's only hope.
Tom Patriot| 8.13.12 @ 12:55PM
Dear King of your Mother's Basement:
No sweat at all since you forgot the swing state most likely to go red with Paul Ryan on the ticket. With Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes that would make it:
265 Obama
273 Romney
In addition, there are lots more states that are a lot closer than the biased polling would lead you to believe. Pennsylvania, Michigan and New Hampshire come to mind and are easily won unless the Democrat voter fraud is as rampant as usual in places like Philadelphia and Detroit.
My prediction Florida and all of the above for a total of 326 Romney.
November can't get here fast enough!
NOBAMA
Jack in Wi| 8.12.12 @ 7:18PM
Romney and Ryan are appearing 5 miles from my house right now. Should I have gone to the rally? I could of easily got tickets. They called me up to go. Of course Romney should take on the big banks. He could call for a full audit of the Fed. He also could promise to start no wars without first calling Congress into session to declare war. That would get him some of our libertarian votes. I think with Ryan on the ticket they will carry Wi. I also think they have a chance to carry, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, and Iowa. Illinois is a basket case and a conservative Republican almost won the governorship 2 years ago. Ohio elected a Republican in 1010. So did Iowa. Minnesota had a close race in 2010 and the Republican almost won. Gay marrriage is on the ballot in Minnesota and the Constitutional amendment against it is going to pass with a good majority. All Romney has to do to be competitive in these states is to push a more populist program and state that marriage is a contract between a man and a women. Obama has hung himself with gay marriage to get out a small part of his base. The much larger Evangelical and Catholic base of the Republicans has to be catered to, If Romney expects to win.
I think Ryan was the best choice of the people mentioned. Romney has to differentiate himself from Obama. Ryan is also a good looking young Irish Catholic with a nice looking family. He is a good speaker.. I thought he did great job with Romney.
Jack in Wi| 8.12.12 @ 7:24PM
I like Ryan. He is my neighboring congressman, but I never heard him give a long speech before and I was impressed. If Romney wants to win he would do well never to mention the names Israel or Iran again. His collapse in the polls is the result of his neocon inspired foreign trip. He sounded like a nut and a warmonger. The neocons bring nothing to the table except aa little money. They control zero votes. This country will never elect a warmonger again. If Romney wants to get the votes of women, independents, and the young he better start sounding like a dove not a hawk.
Occam's Tool| 8.12.12 @ 9:58PM
By the way, Romney is still up in the Rasmussen polls.
Occam's Tool| 8.12.12 @ 9:57PM
Jack: you are a moron. You live in a State that, except Ryan, consists mostly of morons.
Iran is THE foreign policy issue right now. A nuclear Iran will be a disaster for an open bordered US. Think of ports that could be entered by Russian flagged ships with lead containers...
Jack in Wi| 8.13.12 @ 12:33AM
Occam Iran is a threat to no-one, including Israel. It is lunatics like you and Netanyahu who are pushing this country to a world war. Iran has no nuclear weapons and isn't building any. Israel has 500 atomic weapons and has used nuclear blackmail for 40 years to get it's way. Well time has run out. Saudi Arabia has nuclear weapons. It financed the Sunni bomb, ib Pakistan. Turkey may have them or is building them. Do you think it is going to let itself be bullied by Israel forever? The world is sick to death of Israel and it's racism and warmongering. If romney and ryan try pushing more wars they will end up on the ash heap of history. Israel has been threatening to bomb Iran for 20 years. It never will on it's own. No American politician wants another war on his watch. Bush did not bomb Iran despite all the lies of Cheney and the neocons. Obama has resisted the cry for bombingIran as well. There is zero chance a hard headed businessman like Romney will do it either. The campaign is going to be about the economy and domestic energy policy, not your crazed delusions.
Fin| 8.14.12 @ 2:49PM
Hi all, Jim has made some excellant points. They are tactical and necessary. But Republicans also need a refresher course in stratigic planning. We could have taken the Democrat's 'tax the wealthy' position off the table by accepting John Kerry's offer to limit the wealth tax to those making $1 million or more per year. Of course it's bad policy. We understand that. But it's Obama's main campaign theme, and by choosing Romney we have given the Dems a big stick to persuade their, let's just say, unsophiticated followers. I like Romney/Ryan but we must start to understand that there is a time for principle and a time for pragmatism. Too many times we get stuck on principle as if we will be comfitted by its cold embrace over the next four Obama years. We won't.
Attack Wall Street now with rightful fury. They were, and are, in bed with the Democrats who helped them rape the mortgage market. That's the proper response to the 'Bush economy,' the Dems keep bringing up. Romney/Ryan need to get out in front on this before the meltdown is further hung around Republican necks.