Leslie

Yeah, I tried to find an easy link but am shamelessly lazy and couldn't be arsed.

The Tea Party was out front on these protests though so, really when you think about it, who else could it have been?

Leslie

Yeah, the social conservatives may be scratching their heads at the moment. Maybe this is what they want though.

Ryan does absolutely nothing to close the gender gap but could potentially alienate the seniors. Weird.

What Ryan's selection does accomplish is the cementing of the Republican party into the "white male resistance" which is really just not what the country looks like anymore, imo.

It's an interesting turn of events though and I do think that Ryan is very smart in a wonkish way. I will make a point to listen to what he has to say but, as with most of the Romney narrative, I foresee him being neutered. The whole Romney campaign seems to be based on the idea that you should distance yourself from everything you've ever accomplished in as far as public policy goes.

dakota44

Ryan as a VP pick has the potential to box in some of the Republicans running for reelection. “Every Republican on the ballot has hedged on taking a position on the Ryan plan,” says Democratic consultant Eric Adelstein. “Now they can’t.” True. They either have to continue to distance themselves or embrace it. Embracing it could cause them some difficulty at the voting booth.