Ryan is a great pick!

Weekly Opinion Editorial

RYAN IS A GREAT PICK!

by Steve Fair     

     

     On Saturday morning, Governor Mitt Romney chose Congressman Paul Ryan from Wisconsin as his Vice Presidential running mate.  Ryan is the Chairman of the House Budget committee and surprisingly the pick seemed to please both Republicans and Democrats.

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     Republican grassroots Party activists were excited when Romney chose the seven term Congressman who has a life score of 93% with the American Conservative Union.   Matt Pinnell, Chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party said, “Today marks a turning point in this presidential race. Ryan’s addition to the ticket shows that Governor Romney, in addition to his focus on job creation, is prepared to run a robust campaign with a sharp message built around tax and spending cuts, deficit reduction and entitlement reform; policies that will literally save this country. “When you couple this winning message with the fact that he’s married to an Oklahoman and his dogs are named Boomer and Sooner, Mitt Romney couldn’t have chosen a more qualified running mate.”

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     Minnesota State GOP Chairman Pat Shortridge said: “Ryan’s a great pick.  This proves Gov. Romney knows that getting to 270 electoral votes is a means to an end.  Only bold solutions will suffice.”

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     Democrats seemed excited they would have Ryan to hammer in the election.  President Obama’s senior campaign adviser David Axelrod called Ryan a “right wing ideologue” and said, "It is a pick that is meant to thrill the most strident voices in the Republican Party, but it's one that should trouble everybody else - the middle class, seniors, students.” President Obama said Ryan was a decent guy, a family man and he welcomed him to the campaign, but that he fundamentally disagreed with him. 

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     Is Paul Ryan a good pick for Romney as VP?  Absolutely and here is why? 

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      First, it’s a bold pick that will force the Obama and Romney camps to talk about the sustentative issues like the national budget, Medicare and Social Security during the course of the election.  With the unemployment rate in the United States at 8.3 percent and job creation at all time lows, the American public is ripe and ready for hearing about real solutions and not just clever themes.  Ryan has been dealing with the hard issues for a long time and is not afraid to tackle them with solutions. 

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      Second, by picking Ryan, Romney puts Wisconsin, and their ten electoral votes, into play.  The presidential election is decided by ‘electoral votes.’ Wisconsin has not gone for a Republican presidential ticket since 1984, but emboldened by their defeat of an effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker for his reforms of pension and health care plans for some public sector employees, Badger State GOPers are sure to be encouraged further by the choice of one of their own for second place on their ticket.

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     Third, Ryan is young and a health nut.  He is the first Gen Xer to be a presidential ticket candidate.  At 42, he is closer to the age of most college students than he is to Joe Biden.  He has 6% body fat, works out all the time and eats healthy.  Ryan will have appeal with young voters who voted for Obama in 2008 expecting hope and change, but instead got despair and decay.   

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     Fourth, Ryan married a southern Oklahoma girl- Janna Little from Madill.  She is the niece of David Boren, President of OU and the cousin of Representative Dan Boren.  Ryan visits Oklahoma frequently to hunt and fish.  He loves to ‘noodle’ for catfish.  He is real guy who lives in the same small town he grew up in.  He is a family man who is pro-life and pro- traditional marriage.    

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    Fifth and maybe the most important reason: President Obama fundamentally disagrees with Ryan’s vision for America.  That should be reason enough for most Americans to vote for the ticket of Romney and Ryan.  Obama’s vision for America has  been to use government to prop up businesses and banks, redistribute wealth, and to implement socialized medicine.  He wants to make America like eastern Europe where personal initiative and their economy has been destroyed.

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     Rest assured, the Democrats will attack Ryan and his bi-partisan budget plan.  They will do anything to make Ryan look like an extremist.  The truth is we need an extremist to get America back on track.  Ryan will raise the level of dialogue on the economic woes that are destroying our country.  Win or lose, this was a great pick!