Paul Ryan for VP: A Good Choice…That Could Have Been Better

August 11, 2012   ·   By Bob Ellis   ·   21 Comments

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan

It’s all over the airwaves and internet now that GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has picked Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to be his vice presidential running mate.

I think Ryan is a good choice, a solid choice…but not the best choice Romney could have made.

To be completely honest, other than Allen West, I don’t think there is anyone Romney could have picked that would have really excited me.  That is true for two reasons.

The first is that Romney remains a truly pathetic choice for a GOP presidential nominee.  He remains nothing more than a liberal-with-an-”R”-after-his-name. Lest you think I’m being too hard on him as a Tea Party patriot, I am far from the only conservative who isn’t kidding himself about a man who, aptly put, only “speaks conservative as a second language.” Conservatism is the base, the heart and the soul of the Republican Party. Nevertheless, after the cowardly betrayal of freedom and the Constitution by Chief Justice John Roberts, Mitt Romney is all that stands between America and the certain demise of America.

The second reason is that, while Ryan is one of the best people in Washington right now, he will bring little to the table to energize the conservative base of the GOP.  Yes, he is fiscally conservative. Yes, he understands the difference between the limited government, free market model that made America great…and the Marxist class envy model that President Obama is foisting on our nation–the one that has destroyed freedom and prosperity everywhere it has ever been tried. Paul Ryan understands that our repetitive betrayal of the U.S. Constitution which began with FDR is destroying our nation–fiscally and morally–and that we must reverse course and fix the damage.

But Ryan is not known as a social conservative–which is the second (many would say “first”) major wing of the Republican Party. To be honest, I do not know his record on social issues that well, but social conservatives expect a leader who will speak out boldly on social issues as well as fiscal ones…and I can’t remember hearing Ryan do that very much, if at all. My hope is that as we learn more about his record overall, he will turn out to be a strong social conservative as well, but in the absence of a strong voice for social values, Ryan will do little to truly energize Republicans who understand that America’s fiscal crisis is at its foundation a moral crisis.

Besides, with Mitt Romney starting to act more and more like a 2008 John McCain (i.e. a man we aren’t sure really wants to win), and continuing to display liberal values,  and having already surrounded himself with several people who are NOT conservatives, Romney would have to go to great lengths to reassure social conservatives that he takes these issues serious. As good as Paul Ryan is, he does not reassure us of Romney’s commitment to the moral foundation of our nation.

At the end of the day, we have what we have. The RINO GOP establishment, in concert with the “mainstream” media’s propaganda efforts, has once again forced mediocrity on us for the Republican choice. And while Romney’s running-mate choice is definitely better than mediocrity, it could have been a lot better, given the reassurances Romney desperately needed to make (but obviously took a pass on making).

We don’t have a lot to work with on the plus side.

But the alternative is worse–far, far worse. In four years, Barack Obama has increased our national debt by more than half again, has nationalized huge swaths of the free market, turned back welfare reform and exploded dependence, emasculated American strength and dignity before the world, and made a complete mockery of freedom and the United States Constitution.

We obviously have a LOT to work with on the negative side (though selling with negatives is never the best method).  Let us hope we can successfully bypass the Obama Administration’s Ministry of Public Enlightenment (aka the “mainstream” media) and ensure the American people know precisely the devil’s-deal they would have in another four years of Barack Obama.

Let us hope that is enough to buy a little more time for this, the last best hope of earth.

Paul Ryan Announcement in Norfolk

Paul Ryan Speech

Paul Ryan Montage

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Bob Ellis has been the owner of media company Dakota Voice, LLC since 2005. He is a 10-year veteran of the United States Air Force, a political writer for the past decade, and has been involved in numerous election and public policy campaigns for nearly 20 years, including a Tea Party leader and organizer since 2009. He lives in Rapid City, South Dakota with his wife and two children.

Bob Ellis

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• Carrie_K_Hutchens

  I’m gonna think positive and think this is going to be the winning team that saves the day & takes our country back for us! Yep! That’s what I’m gonna think.

• http://www.americanclarion.com/ Bob Ellis

  For the sake of America, I hope you’re right and I’m wrong. But for a presidential candidate who used to be strongly pro-abortion (and had a “change of heart” just in time to run for president), who laid out the red carpet for counterfeit marriage in Mass., who imposed cap and trade style controls on Mass. in homage to the religion of anthropogenic global warming, and who created the prototype socialized medicine boondoggle for ObamaCare in Mass. (something Reagan had been warning about for decades before he came to the presidency), he isn’t remotely near as conservative as Reagan was when he became president.

• thisoldspouse

  This sweetens the ticket ever so slightly, but I, too, am suspicious of Ryan’s conservative creds. He seems to me to be a fiscal-only guy, due to his seeming lack of anything resembling staunch support for any other conservative issues (all of conservatism,) and it doesn’t surprise me that Mitt would have picked such a running mate.

  Romney remains the stealth liberal that he has always been, and as the race draws closer, I think this will become even more obvious to the point that even the most vocal Anyone-but-Obama voter won’t be able to deny it. He has increasingly disgusted me with his disclaiming support for Chick-fil-A, continued attack on the BSA’s policies, and his deafening silence on critical conservative social issues.

  I still won’t vote for the ticket for conscience sake, but think the fact that this settles the running mate issue will at least inject some initial energy into Romney’s race.

  • SDJammer

    A “no vote” for conscience sake is essentially the same as a vote for Obama. I understand your feelings, but my feelings are that Obama is so bad, it just might be better to draw “your line in the sand” elsewhere. I sincerely don’t think the country will survive another 4 years of Obama.

    • thisoldspouse

      No, a “no vote” for another candidate of conscience is a vote for a candidate of conscience, not for Obama or Romney. I won’t fall for this disingenuous accusation of “voting for Obama” by omission. I can just as easily accuse Romney voters of the same thing by refusing to write in their vote for a much more conservative candidate, the second place in the campaign before he was forced out – Rick Santorum. And so, if you don’t vote with ME and thousands of others for Santorum, you are voting for Obama. How about that?

      The line in the sand is NOT defeating Obama, but what it has ALWAYS been – standing for principle. Are we really willing to compromise our principles in the name of getting rid of the “greatest evil” in favor of the second greatest? That is failing the test.

      • SDJammer

        There is a time to stand your ground and there is a time to fight for survival. I maintain that 4 more years of Obama just might mean the end of our Republic. I understand how “dramatic” that statement probably sounds to you, but I am 100% sincere in my belief that this country has never faced a bigger threat. If given another 4 years, Obama will have changed this country to the point where there is no “easy” road back. I for one, find that probability just plain unacceptable.

        • thisoldspouse

          I might get banned for this, but I’ll say it anyway: Let it end! If this is what the U.S. has come to, then let it die, give it to the parasites and rebuild from the ashes. This is NOT what the United States of America is, survival at any cost. America is more than just a land mass and a government; it is a collection of ideas and ideals. If we save this government and sacrifice the ideals that brought it forth, then was are dead just the same.

        • SDJammer

          I think maybe we have something to learn from the progressives on this one. They learned a long time ago that they were not going to be able to change the country overnight. They realized that Americans would never accept socialism knowingly.
          As a result, they have been content to progressively take a slice at a time. Unfortunately, conservatives gave ground by sitting on their hands and accepting all of the Political Correctness, letting progressive gain control of the educational system and media in this country thus getting us to the point where we are today – the edge of the cliff.
          I think we will make another mistake if we take an all or nothing position and be willing to fall off the cliff in the hope that someday we will be able to rebuild. I personally think it is time to take a lesson from the progressives and be willing to regain our country an inch at a time. And I maintain that the coming presidential election is the difference between going over the cliff and starting the long road back.
          I encourage you to rethink your position.

        • thisoldspouse

          SDJ,
          I am willing to rethink my position. We still have almost 3 months until the election, and Romney still has time to prove that he is not completely a stealth Obama. What determines my vote is the candidates words – proven words – and actions by election day. So far, Romney has been an utter and complete failure. But I pray that he surprises me.

          That is why I never vote “early,” because there is nearly always something to learn about a candidate, either good or bad, up until the final choice is made.

• thisoldspouse

  I just hear that Ryan is a supporter of a proposed vote for ENDA – the law that basically strips Christians of conscience of the right to disapprove of homosexuality and any of its many permutations in public life. Can anyone confirm this? I know Romney supports ENDA, which is one of the biggest strikes against him in my book.

  • http://www.americanclarion.com/ Bob Ellis

    Until I know more, I’d put this one down as “not clear.”

    Some quick research reveals he DID vote for ENDA in 2008 (
    http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll1057.xml)…after having tried to kill it shortly before that (
    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/12/1119330/-The-Truth-about-Paul-Ryan-and-ENDA).

    I know that certain parliamentary procedures can be used to keep options open later,and sometimes this produces seemingly confusing and contradictory votes sometimes. I don’t know whether that was a factor here or not. I’d like to see a statement from Ryan on this particular vote, as to why he voted for it after having tried to kill it, and I’d also like to see how he’s voted on other pro-homosexual legislation before making up my mind.

    For now, I’d categorize Ryan’s position on homosexual issues as “an area of interest” to learn more about.

    • http://www.americanclarion.com/ Bob Ellis

      Here’s a little more I just found, written from the pro-homosexual perspective. Still leaves things a bit murky, but if the interpretation here is reliable, it doesn’t exactly add positive light to Ryan’s commitment to holding the line against the homosexual agenda.

      http://www.seanrobertcotter.com/2012/08/11/did-paul-ryan-vote-against-enda-yes-and-no/

      • http://www.americanclarion.com/ Bob Ellis

        Still another here from HuffPo (remember: know the bias of your source).

        http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michelangelo-signorile/paul-ryan-gay-rights_b_1768962.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=Politics

        Looks like far more good than bad in Ryan’s record on homosexual issues, but it’s always a red flag for me when a Republican doesn’t want to talk about social issues; usually indicates a lack of commitment to holding the line against liberalism.

        For what it’s worth, I talked with someone in the last 24 hours who has met with Romney and discussed some social issues, and Romney says he is firmly opposed to ENDA. But then, if the HuffPo article is credible, it may be for “business” reasons rather than firmly rooted ideological and moral reasons. Remember, too, that Romney “claims” to be against counterfeit marriage…even though it would be hard to imagine a governor making it easier for homosexual activists to counterfeit marriage than Romney did in Massachusetts.

        • thisoldspouse

          Good to know about Ryan, but, as you mention, a politician’s reluctance to wade into any social issues screams loudly that they don’t usually give a flip about them, and will go along with the liberals if they can only get their way on fiscal issues. The “trucers” on “social issues,” like Mitch Daniels, are as dangerous to this nation as any far-left Marxist.

          I’m still getting tons of campaign material in the mail by the Romney Campaign. In all the long narratives about how Obama has impoverished our free enterprise system – which is a valid point – NOT ONE WORD ever appears as to the moral peril this country has been subjected to, or about how Romney intends to remedy it.

          I, too, did some searching and found out that Ryan voted both ways on ENDA. Maybe this was just a procedural maneuver; let’s hope it was as the Socialist Democrats had control of all of Congress at that time.

• http://www.americanclarion.com/ Bob Ellis

  I have sympathy for both thisoldspouse’s and SDJammer’s positions. I was so disgusted with (a) Romney’s liberal sycophancy, and (b) the way the GOP establishment–which should have been at the vanguard of standing for Republican values–pushed this pathetic liberal on the GOP base, that I was going to vote third party.

  However, at that time, I had no real expectation that the SCOTUS would uphold the blatantly unconstitutional ObamaCare scheme–and certainly not write a blank check for taxation authority under its auspices as that traitor John Roberts did.

  That treasonous decision tipped the scales for me. The abomination known as ObamaCare cannot be allowed to stand, if the American republic is to survive. It basically gave the federal government a blank check to tyrannize the American people in any fashion it sees fit–and to Hell with the Constitution–so long as they connect that tyranny to a “tax.”

  So I will vote for this worthless “Republican” as the lesser of two evils. I will not carry water for him, and I will not soft-pedal his faults, and I will not provide cover for him.

  So I sympathize with those who support this disgusting GOP candidate out of desperation, but I also sympathize with those who simply cannot suck it up anymore. I recognize and acknowledge the convictions and intentions of both. But those who rammed Romney down our throats early on when there were far better options…they have my complete and total contempt.

  • WXRGina

    Amen, Bob!

  • thisoldspouse

    Well said, Bob. I can fully understand the position of those who will vote for Romney out of desperation in order to rid the White House of a demonic reprobate; I don’t condemn them for it. And I expect those, in turn, to respect my refusal to violate my conscience by voting for the lesser of two evils. After the election of 2008, I vowed to never do that again, and I fully intend to keep my vow.

    But I seriously do not expect even a Romney presidency to reverse the damage that has been done unless we also can elect a staunchly conservative, courageous, veto-proof Congress, and I don’t see all of those things happening – I don’t see us firing the pathetic RINO Boehner, who is Obama’s accomplice. And until we get a serious principled conservative at the top spot in the House, nothing is going to change. The same with the Senate – as long as the pathetically wimpy wormtongue McConnell is at the helm, we can’t expect anything decent to come from that branch of government.

    The American people presumably elected Obama – I believe through deceit and not a little bit of fraud – and that is bad enough. But for the American people to presumably also elect “Obama lite” in the primaries – admittedly a very flawed system of choosing a party’s candidate – shows that we are pretty much done for as a nation. Romney sets the new standard for “conservative.” How in the world are we ever going to get back to the true definition?

  • SDJammer

    I will take every vote that goes to defeat Obama. I hope and pray that we can have a discussion in 4 years over the degree of Romney’s conservatism. If Obama wins, I am truly afraid there will no refuge for conservatives anywhere in this country.

• thisoldspouse

  Good points. But I still refuse to drink a health shake laced with cyanide. Even if you omit the cyanide and add strychnine instead, I won’t drink it.

• countrygirl

  Romney is not my favorite either, but we must remember a conservative culture begets a conservative president, not the other way around. We are in this predicament because until recently, the average church-going conservative in America has not concerned himself/herself with the public square. Many people are waking up, be one of them. And for all our sakes, go to the polls and vote this anti-faith, anti-American, arrogant Socialist Dictator out of office.

• SDJammer

  Just one final thought on this matter. Before conservatives decide NOT to vote for Romney, just think about one thing. In Obama’s world there is no room for conservatives and if Obama wins a second term – make no mistake, Obama will control his part of the world.

  Life for conservatives in a second Obama term will be very different from anything that you have ever experienced.