Paul Ryan: "Life is Short"
The current issue of the New Yorker includes a long profile of Paul Ryan. The reporter proves unsympathetic--the profile is entitled "Fussbudget"--but he quotes Ryan enough to permit the man to make his case on his own. With a tip of the hat to Ricochet's Bob Oster for bringing them to my attention, the profile's concluding paragraphs:
You can’t “run on vague platitudes and generalities,” he told me earlier this month. He was speaking about Bush in 2004 and Obama four years ago. But he clearly believes that the same holds true for Romney in November.
“He’s already endorsed these things,” Ryan said. “I want a full-throated defense for an alternative agenda that fixes the country’s problems. I want to show the country that we have a solution to get us out of the ditch we’re in, and to be proud about it.”
Ryan seemed unconcerned that pushing his policy agenda on Romney might damage the candidate. “I think life is short,” Ryan said at the end of our final conversation. “You’d better take advantage of it while you have it.”
At last, at last. Conviction, mastery of the issues, and a willingness to fight.
A glorious day for the Republic.
- Comment (52)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (3)
Comments:
Dec '10
Re: Paul Ryan: "Life is Short"
To those worried about the damage Ryan will do to the ticket among blue-collar voters, remember that Romney has not really started campaigning. He has huge reserves and plenty of material to work with; in a couple of weeks when he's allowed to spend we are going to see an onslaught of advertising that will rip Obama to pieces. Does it guarantee a win? Of course not. But if Romney is willing to take such a huge risk with his VP pick, I don't see why he won't be willing to be ruthless in his messaging.
And again, if Ryan does damage the ticket to the point of a loss, we will get what we deserve. We will have made our very clear choice.
Jun '10
Re: Paul Ryan: "Life is Short"
This will be a great test of the "success" of Teachers Unions. Are Americans so stupid now that they'd choose complete incompetence, thoroughly demonstrated incompetence, instead of picking a well-designed government reform program at a time when America desperately needs government reform? If the majority of Americans are that stupid, then congratulations to America's leftwing teachers. Goal achieved; socialist slavery is almost here.
Jun '11
Re: Paul Ryan: "Life is Short"
I'm willing to bet that if Sean Trende had been writing in August 1981, he would be telling us how disastrous the nomination of Ronald Reagan would be for Republicans.
Great pick by Romney. Ignore the pollsters. The dude in the White House is going down, and he's going down big.
Apr '11
Re: Paul Ryan: "Life is Short"
James Of England
Sean Trende had some of the most reliably wrong electoral analysis during the primaries. Shoddy math, assumptions that were obviously false, bucket loads of wishful thinking...
I am a little surprised by that. I thought Trende's book The Lost Majority was superb. I didn't really follow his work during the primaries though.
My opinion of Ryan and the political consequences of his election was formed by the NY House seat that we lost in great part because of his budget, and my knowledge of the long history of Mediscare.
Apr '11
Re: Paul Ryan: "Life is Short"
It very well could have been. Reagan's candidacy was highly tenuous all the way to the end. If Desert One had succeeded we wouldn't be talking about any "Reagan Revolution" today.
Nov '10
Re: Paul Ryan: "Life is Short"
To quote Han Solo: "I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around." I live in the most liberal county of a deeply blue state. More than anything, the Republican brand is tarnished here by politicians who play at being conservative. Let's have it out. Let's have the adult conversation. Anyone who thinks the Obama administration is going to be harder on Romney now is simply fooling themselves. This just forces them to talk about the economy. And they'll lose that argument. I haven't been this excited since the women's soccer team win the gold medal.
Apr '11
Re: Paul Ryan: "Life is Short"
wmartin
James Of England
Sean Trende had some of the most reliably wrong electoral analysis during the primaries. Shoddy math, assumptions that were obviously false, bucket loads of wishful thinking...
I am a little surprised by that. I thought Trende's book The Lost Majority was superb. I didn't really follow his work during the primaries though.
My opinion of Ryan and the political consequences of his election was formed by the NY House seat that we lost in great part because of his budget, and my knowledge of the long history of Mediscare. · 1 hour ago
I've been told by others that the primaries were a hiccup for him, but this seems of a piece with them. NY 26 was lost 47-42 with a 9 point TEA Party vote. If we have a third party TEA Party getting those kinds of numbers in November, we're toast, but I think it's too late to have to worry about that.
More than that, NY 26 was a great example of fighting over the Ryan Plan despite Ryan not being on the ticket; it's the opposite of Trende's claim.
Mar '11
Re: Paul Ryan: "Life is Short"
I am absolutely and entirely thrilled by this pick, for all the reasons pro-Ryan people have already stated. I am now ENTIRELY psyched about Romney's campaign, because if he can pick Paul Ryan as his running mate, then I believe he can deliver on the promises to fix the welfare state, eliminate Obamacare, and deliver the Tea Party mandate.
Mitt Romney has just guaranteed that the Tea Party voters who elected such good people in 2010 will be at the polls this November.
YES!
Edited on August 12, 2012 at 5:47amFeb '11
Re: Paul Ryan: "Life is Short"
Please! Enough of this. If we lose, there will be so much more to clean up and undo that "orders of magnitude" might not be the hyperbole that it usually is. And a Supreme Court with a dependable 6-3 vote against will make the repairs quite impossible.
Remember, the other side of this gamble is this: lose and they can claim they have a mandate for all the things we are warning against.
Edited on August 12, 2012 at 6:33amAug '10
Re: Paul Ryan: "Life is Short"
I apologize , but the magazine has been largely unreadable since they were infected with BDS.
The Screw Yorker ------------David Remnick, Rick Hertzberg....come on.
Aug '10
Re: Paul Ryan: "Life is Short"
"Life is short": This is normally a cliche, but these words carry some weight when spoken by a man whose father, grandfather, and great-grandfather died of heart attacks in their 50s.
Jun '12
Re: Paul Ryan: "Life is Short"
I agree with Peter that it's a glorious day. My principle complaint about the Republicans has been the lack of willingness of our best and brightest to answer the call of the country in her time of need. Now one of those best and brightest has entered the fray, and Romney deserves the credit for bringing him in.
The clarity which the selection of Paul Ryan provides to voters makes it certain that we'll actually have on Election Day the answer to the question of whether these once -- and perhaps still -- great United States are on the take or are yet hanging on to Liberty.