Run Ryan Run

Scott Hardie | August 12, 2012
I don't expect Paul Ryan to have much influence on the election, but he's a good choice on Romney's part, probably the best that could have been made. Thoughts?

Time ran an interesting story about how Romney made the decision and kept it secret.

Tony Peters | August 12, 2012
I think the choice of Ryan will only hasten the GOP's realization that they need to restructure the party or at least go back to the "big Tent" idea of old. What will be very telling is whether or not Scott Brown gets re-elected because I think Romney is doomed regardless of how much money they spend, but Brown is (regardless of how he is marketed as Tea Party) a centrist running against a fairly progressive Warren in Massachusetts if he wins that may be a bigger signal about the future of the GOP than Mittens and Eddie Munster

Scott Hardie | August 17, 2012
Ryan hasn't inspired a whole lot of talk about substance or policy yet, but he has inspired a lot of talk about how we're soon going to talk about substance or policy. If we were ever going to talk about those things, we would have by now.

Five Thirty Eight tentatively predicts an evenly divided Senate this fall, which would make the Vice President suddenly very important.

Tony Peters | August 17, 2012
no they are too busy being infuriated that Biden is saying that Republicans are gonna put Blacks in chains again.
a friend found this which amazed me when I took the test Turns out I sem to agre with Gary Johnson more than Obama which doesn't surprise me I know I wasn't a conservative anymore and there are things about Obama I just ca't abide

Scott Hardie | August 19, 2012
Neat quiz. It says I agree with Jill Stein about nearly everything, Barack Obama about most issues, Ron Paul about foreign policy, and Mitt Romney about nothing. That's what I would have guessed. :-)

Scott Hardie | August 29, 2012
The Wrong Side Absolutely Must Not Win

Scott Hardie | August 31, 2012
One of my firmest beliefs about the last few years in American politics is that Republicans in Congress have blocked Obama at every turn. Depending on your viewpoint, this isn't necessarily a bad thing; voters have put different parties in control of the legislative and executive branches for much of American history because we want obstruction, lest one party get out of control. The blocking has just been especially thorough this time.

That's why I was incensed by two comments this week. First, Romney claimed that Obama has been a lousy president because "he's gotten every piece of legislation he wanted passed" and it hasn't worked. Then in his RNC speech last night, Ryan claimed that Obama "doesn't have a jobs plan." It's fine to say that Obama doesn't have an effective jobs plan or a realistic jobs plan or whatever, but when the man went to Congress with a bill that he literally called his "jobs bill" and was mocked for telling them over and over again to "pass this bill" and they didn't, you can't claim that the plan didn't exist. Politicians lie every hour of every day, but these lies strike me as exceptionally bold.

Strangely, I saw a lot of news today that fact-checked Ryan's speech, pointing out inaccuracies about the closed auto plant and the cuts to Medicare and the rejection of the Simpson-Bowles recommendation. (Journalists were actually doing their jobs! Hooray!) And yet not once did I see any fact-checking of the "Obama doesn't have a jobs plan" statement. Too bad.

Scott Hardie | August 31, 2012
Excellent analysis of why Romney's portrayal of Obama as a failure rings false for many voters.