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As the Republican National Convention looms closer in time, voices on the right have been heard suggesting running mates for Mitt Romney as the country heads into the final months of the 2012 campaign season.
The Wall Street Journal joined Rich Lowry or the National Review and The Weekly Standard in their confidence that the best choice for Romney’s running mate is Paul Ryan, congressman from Wisconsin’s First District.
Ryan is well-liked among his Republican peers, ranked as one of their party’s most influential people on economic policy. He is the chairman of the House Budget Committee, and has been a member of the House since 1999. At age 42 he is one of the younger members of congress.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Ryan has taken a strong stand on what the role of government should be in taking back the economy and bringing it to a place where growth is the direction and not a decline into an economic shrinkage orchestrated by the domination of special interest groups.
Ryan has consistently and bravely called for entitlement reform before the crisis becomes as unmanageable as to require severe cuts. But Ryan does not only discuss reform of entitlement programs, but also believes that those reforms must come in conjunction with tax reform; part of his long-term vision for faster, sustainable growth. Ryan is serious about preventing a Greek-like tragedy for our own budget, but he also reminds us of Jack Kemp and his concern that everyone should have equal opportunities to succeed. Ryan is a good representative of a new crop of reformers that have been blooming around the country, such as Governors Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Chris Christie of New Jersey.
The WSJ says that Romney’s best chance to unseat President Obama is to focus his attention on the larger, crucial issues; naming the election theme as one about the greater direction and future of the United States. Polls have shown that voters are afraid that the country is in a troubling funk the likes of which have not been seen since the 1970s. They are well-aware that the economy is stalled in a dangerous ditch, with too-slow growth to get those middle-class incomes up, while at the very same time the government is growing at a lightning pace, costing taxpayers more every day.
Taking Ryan on board will show the country that Romney is truly concerned about the big issues. That can only send a positive message to voters that this is a serious team which takes the country’s crucial issues seriously.
