Paul Ryan

            The day come – Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney has announced House Budget Committee Chairman and southern Wisconsin seven-term Congressman Paul Ryan as his vice-presidential running mate. Romney, proving to be savvier with social media than the last GOP presidential nominee, announced his VP pick earlier this morning through a smartphone application. This announcement came around the same time as the Romney campaign issued a press release which stated, “Mitt Romney & Paul Ryan: America’s Comeback Team.” Romney and his team are branding the VP choice, further making this election about the economy since Ryan is known for working towards less government spending and holding taxpayers accountable. By picking Ryan, Romney is also keeping healthcare at the center of the political debate. Ryan’s budget plan appears to also bring major changes to our country’s Medicare and Medicaid. Without a doubt, taxes and spending will continue to be among the hot topics discussed in this political race.

            Romney officially announces Ryan as his running-mate to the U.S.S. Wisconsin, which happens to be Ryan’s home state. Was this planned, or could this just be some big coincidence? These two appear to agree on policy and data issues which makes for a strong team. During an NBC Chuck Todd interview this past Thursday, prior to the world hearing who Romney’s running mate would be, Romney mentioned his VP pick would be someone with "vision,” noting his running mate would be one who "adds something to the political discourse about the direction of the country” For the conservatives of this country, Ryan has been somewhat of a hero. For liberals though, this VP nominee is a target because Ryan is a bit more radically conservative than Romney. Honestly though, Romney is fairly middle-of-the-road when it comes to being a republican (or part of any political party for that matter), and he is often critiqued as being too liberal for GOP-ers. A more conservative running-mate might be just what Romney needs to commandeer the Oval Office.

            Typically a vice presidential pick has little effect on the overall race, but could greatly effect a presidential nominee’s campaign. For Romany though, his VP choice may have a large impact on the result of the 2012 race for the White House. The right-wingers of the GOP party have been on Romney’s case from the beginning, since Romney has some liberal tendencies for a Republican. Many are calling Ryan a bold choice. Regardless, this choice is one which will most definitely bring enthusiasm to the Republican ticket. Leading up to this day, Republicans seemed to be pulling Romney in two directions: some wanting him to pick a safe running mate in order to portray Romney as a steady leader, while others were pushing for Romney to make a risker move since this GOP tends to come off as boring to some and not a true conservative to others. It would appear Romney and his team sided with the latter as being the right move.

            Independence Hall Tea Party PAC president Don Adams called Romney’s choice a “brave selection,” and one which shows that “Governor Romney takes the debt crisis so seriously that he's willing to risk his campaign on the Ryan budget plan—which seriously addresses the Federal government's disastrous and suicidal spending levels.” In a prepared statement put out by the Romney campaign Ryan said, "I believe my record of getting things done in Congress will be a very helpful complement to Governor Romney's executive and private-sector success outside Washington.” According to this newly chosen running mate, Romney and Ryan “won't duck the tough issues—we will lead." And to lead is just what Romney looks to do by adding this fiscal conservative with financial leadership to his ticket. Though Ryan is rather unknown outside budget and political circles, soon people will know Ryan better than he may feel he knows himself. Ryan does seem to bring what Romney has been lacking: detailed ideas for fixing our country’s budget. Not to mention, this VP choice leaves many democrats speeches, especially those who for months now have put Romney down as running on the sole purpose of being anti-Obama. This 42-year-old vice presidential pick will bring youth to the GOP ticket, as well as a strong Midwest presence which could get some states who voted blue in 2008 to vote red in 2012.

            This decision by Romney shows Romney is a risk taker running a bold campaign, a politician who can adapt, and a Republican who isn’t all about generalizations the way the Democratic Party has been portraying him. Though it may look like Romney is willing to give up his business policies and desire for executive experience, Romney needed something new to really push his numbers to Obama’s level. Romney is putting more weight on some of his previously made plans by picking Ryan as his right-hand-man, giving the right-wing something more to vote for than anti-Obamaness (i.e. a ticket that now includes a stronger belief in low taxes and a free market). Some are worried Ryan might be like Sarah Palin, a short-term fix with a surge of energy for Republicans that doesn’t last long, but this might simply be talk from the other side of the aisle by people who worry that Ryan might be just what Romney needs to beat Obama this November. Could R&R be the team for you? They seem Ready and Reliable – Romney and Ryan.

Suburbia vs. Swing States, the Economy & our Electoral College

            The majority of urban voters are in favor of Obama. The majority of rural voters are in favor of Romney. It looks like those living in the suburbs will therefore be deciding the outcome of the 2012 Presidential election, and a recent poll by the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University concludes just that. According to the poll Obama and Romney are tied among suburban voters, but the GOP candidate has an edge among registered independent suburban voters. Predications for election outcomes vary depending on such factors as voters’ gender, economic status, race, and the amount of college education. But if suburbanites are in fact deciding the outcome of this race, the economy is likely to be the largest factor. Support for the current president changes with suburbanites’ faith in the economy. With upwards of 70% of these people are still dissatisfied with the direction in which our country seems to be headed and a nearing half are living paycheck-to-paycheck, support for Obama in suburban areas could be dwindling.

           Obama visits the Ohio Air National Guard base today where he may run into some animosity from people unhappy about the President’s proposal to cut the military budget. Obama may also feel the disappointment from people who think the high unemployment rate over the last four years is the President’s doing, and blame the President for the layoffs involved in the closing of the Ohio American Energy’s coal mine. For the Romney campaign though, political news from Texas this morning may inspire this GOP team. Last night’s political runoff in this southern state shows America’s right leaning states may be moving even further towards the conservative side, as wanting stronger conservative leadership in Washington is becoming more popular. Texas’ Ted Cruz joins Florida’s Marco Rubio as yet another Tea Party Republican candidate to make it into the Senate. According to ABC News Political Director Amy Walter this means Washington will be as polarized and uncompromising as ever. Therefore, whoever wins this year’s Presidential race may have a great deal of bipartisan work to do over the next four years if any bill proposals are to be passes.

            Instead of building a solid future economic plan like those in suburbia would like, or boasting about why we should elect him over his opponent like most of America would prefer, both Presidential candidates are putting their money on negative advertisements in hopes of convincing the public not to vote for the other guy. While Americans feel the President can do a great deal to help the economy, Mr. President is doing nothing. Obama sees he has the leg up in most of the key battleground states and therefore his campaign doesn’t see it to be worthwhile to take risks which may give Romany and his team the ammunition to fire back. Romney’s side to this debate really isn’t any better: Romney says he wants to lessen the deficit, cut taxes, and bring down spending, but he gives no information on how he plans to accomplish such things. It’s unclear if one guy can out-do the other with negative advertising, but we will for sure find out. If this Presidential race has proved anything it is that Presidential candidates do not have to actually care about the economy if they just plan their campaign around negating their opponent.

            One should never put all of his or her eggs in a single basket, and its arguable both presidential candidates have done so with relying on negative advertising to give them their seat in the White House. While one poll might point out the plausibility of the suburbanites of American choosing who will lead us for the next four years, another poll by CBS News, the New York Times, and Quinnipiac University finds that significant swing states are leaning left with very little chance of changing their minds. Perhaps then the suburbs may not be as important as we originally thought, and the importance should really be placed on swing states. With all this talk surrounding the swing states in America, how important is a swing state voters’ vote versus a non-swing state voters’ vote? We have grown up being told that all of our votes matter; that every single person’s vote is important. Some however do not believe this to be the case. Regardless of why the Electoral College was originally put into place, it would appear it was established because those running this country did not believe the American people could pick the President themselves, therefore needing supposedly more intelligent and more qualified people to pick the country’s Commander-In-Chief. I’d like to believe we Americans are educated enough to choose our leader without having to rely on others to choose for us, but with people believing everything they hear on television and the radio about our candidates I sometimes feel it is a good thing the Electoral College is still around, no matter how outdated and irrelevant it might actually be. Let’s face it, if you’re a republican in California or a democrat in Texas, you’re state’s delegates are almost guaranteed to vote against you. When it comes down to it, the next U.S. President will probably be chosen by a mere one million people from swing states such as Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania. Citizens of swing states have had to deal with an overwhelming amount of (negative) campaigning from both sides of the aisle, and they can only expect the campaigns to become more intense over the next few months as we continue to approach Election Day.