Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan is the wrong choice for the Republican Party’s Vice Presidential nominee in 2012. His selection is simply a continuation of the Republican Party’s failure to recognize the severity of our current malaise — and if Ryan’s selection shifts the national conversation from the economy to entitlement reform, Romney is doomed in November.
The challenges facing this nation aren’t difficult to discern. We have a soaring debt, major issues with entitlements, a terrible tax code, uncomfortably high unemployment, stalling economic growth, failing healthcare and educational systems, and infrastructure in disarray. (Not to even begin on the foreign policy side of things!)
One aspect of being the man presiding over recovery is having to prioritize. Yes, even the President of the United States cannot wave a wand and solve everything with ease. So despite conservative panic over debt and entitlement reform, they should not receive top billing in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
When unemployment is above 8 percent, economic growth is stalled, and we face the reality of being the first generation to be worse off than our parents, the last thing voters will want to hear is that we need to cut back on entitlements. Maybe this comes back to the absence of empathy I discussed yesterday, but I’d suspect it has more to do with a simple failure to understand the depths of our challenge.
As I’ve said for some time, we will have to get around to tax reform, entitlement reform, cutting debt, etc.
But today is not that day, and the election in November is not that time.
If Romney manages to keep this race focused on the economic disaster we are experiencing today, he should win the election. If he instead succumbs to venturing down the worm hole of major reform — while millions of Americans are out of work and suffering, he’ll struggle.
And does anyone think the guy in this picture will succeed in asking the middle and working classes to give up entitlements?
Me neither.
Displaced Husker 
I just LOVE when you guys do most of my work for me 🙂
It’s always wonderful when the Republicans pick a horrible VP, giving me one more thing to attack 🙂 I hate when people are like, “Negative ads are bad.” It’s called politics people. It’s not nice.
It’s never even occurred to me that Romney might win. By adding Ryan, that hasn’t changed a bit.