the most important election of your lifetime: 2012 american general election thread

he's an ideas man and true conservative genius that will single handedly change the dynamic of the race when he throttles his dim dem opponent in the debates. yknow, like newt.

but Newt's secret weapon was his living freak show schtick. that's what gives him star-power, not his "ideas" (such as they were).

Paul Ryan, OTOH, has the star-power of a rock.

I really am surprised that they've decided to do this before the Olympics are over. They're clearly trying to put last week behind them as quickly as possible, but why wouldn't they wait at least until Monday?

no no newt (until very recently maybe - the moon base seems to have maybe been a tipping point finally) was actually taken seriously as an 'intellectual' and even republicans i knew who hated newt relished the idea of him 'destroying' obama in the debates. ryan has this same overrated serious ideas man rep (nevermind his ideas being as batshit and as full of shit - in 2000 he was arguing how clinton's balancing the budget had put america in peril) minus the personal foibles and ego of newt but also w/ 10% of the charisma. they've nominated the al gore to newt's clinton. and this was the bold choice. i do know that when ryan gave the rebuttal to the sotu i didn't feel any dread at the prospect of facing this guy, he seemed very much the kind of weasel that can go far in the house but would be out of his depth at any level above that.

I just have to all things being equal congratulate Harry Reird, Romney is maybe an easy target but he brought him down w one shot, he owned him on his lunch break my lord

thats some mormon on Mormon crime, avert yr eyes children

he's an ideas man and true conservative genius that will single handedly change the dynamic of the race when he throttles his dim dem opponent in the debates. yknow, like newt.

gotta admit what surprises me is that ryan would risk his chance to be a lifer like newt by potentially flaming out palin-style

He might be entertaining.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHE5BIP2-D8

yeah i can see how GOP folks think he has a Mr. Smith Goes To Washington But Smart vibe

out of curiosity, are there any cases where a president was elected because people were jazzed up by their VP selection?

Ryan would be a horrible choice imho in every way except covering mitts ass against conservative pundits, and tbf that won't even work

this is a p good summery of the thinking that basically boils down to the vp nom can move the needle a lil bit in his home state maybe aka doesn't matter much xp http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/08/how-romneys-pick-of-a-running-mate-could-sway-the-outcome

and that piece notes ryan is actually one of the less popular options in terms of home state advantage

exactly

It just might work.

http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/t427/sayhey1/ryan-1.jpg http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/t427/sayhey1/smith.jpg

at the very least it probably keeps them bringing in $$$ and getting to the convention without party mutiny

http://www.wolfgnards.com/media/blogs/photos/celebrities/Eddie-Munster.jpg

I repeat Harry Reid is a mfn gangster http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/11/business/in-the-superrich-clues-to-romneys-tax-returns-common-sense.html

cant someone just leak romeys returns idgi

if I don't get to see these things, at this point, ffs

Ryan advocated letting the country default during the debt ceiling fight.

Just realized Romney will never stop running for president. When he loses this year make a ten-thousand dollar bet he'll be back in 2016, Nixon style.

I don't completely believe that but I think it's a possibility.

the gop will have nothing to do w him tho

I mean they already hate him just image when he loses to nobama to bam

as far as I can tell no human being has ever liked mitt romney, not even for a moment

his dog maybe liked him at one point, which is prob why he put him on the roof

loooooooool current lead photo on nytimes.com

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/04/03/us/politics/0403romney/0403romney-blog480.jpg

http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/ap_mitt_romney_paul_Ryan_sub_sandwich_thg_120403_wg.jpg

potato chips crunchy potatoy congratulations

"how about those submarine sandwiches? I love lunches."

lool

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/08/11/paul-ryan-will-be-mitt-romneys-vice-presidential-pick-heres-seven-thoughts-on-what-that-means

mostly I think it's funny that ezra klein felt it nessisary to post abt this in the middle of the night, bloggers they are just like us, I wonder if he is drunk, this is a v good point tho, until the last line at least

5. It’s worth recalling how Ryan became a semi-household name. It wasn’t a Republican strategy to put him forward. As Ryan Lizza recounts in his New Yorker profile of Ryan, it was a Democratic strategy to put Ryan forward. Ryan, he writes, “was caught between the demands of the Republican leaders, who wanted nothing to do with his Roadmap, and his own belief that the Party had to offer a sweeping alternative vision to Obama’s. Ryan soon had an unlikely ally, in Obama himself.” While Republicans were trying to keep Ryan quiet, the Obama administration was trying to make him famous. They saw his plans as the clearest distillation of the GOP’s governing philosophy — and they thought it would drive voters towards the Democrats. We’ll know in November whether that was a genius strategy or an epic miscalculation.

http://i.imgur.com/kS3Ls.jpg

9. Joe Biden has a lot of debate prep ahead of him. I’ve interviewed Ryan three times. Twice on health care (here and here), and once on economics (here). He’s very quick on his feet, and he’s got a lot of experience explaining his plans to skeptical audiences. He’s also a likable and, while I don’t know him very well personally, decent-seeming guy. He’s repeatedly won reelection in a moderaste district. Democrats underestimate his political skills at their peril.

yeah yeah sure sure just like Rick perry was a bare knuckle brawler, I mean he impressed a blogger in an interview he must be legit

repeat Harry Reid is a mfn gangster

duh, Nevada

hate the guy, myself

Romney/Ryan just isn't very fun to say out loud. Obama/Biden has an inherent jolliness to it.

Harry Reid is a fucking worm.

Paul Ryan Rick Scott Chris Christie who are these people

hate the guy, myself

― Pangborn to be Wilde (Dr Morbius), Saturday, August 11, 2012 3:06 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is fair, its just amazing how hard he hit the Romney campaign w/like ten seconds of work

sorry, what *fatal* blow is Reid alleged to have dealt? starting to think icey is gettin some DNC money. "He paid zero taxes" w/ no documentation, big whoop.

I was living in Florida when Rick Scott was elected. He just scraped out a win and his approval rating dropped about 25 points in four weeks. Also, he's from the planet Xflyzt 500-B.

Harry Reid dominated campaign news for a week based on saying like 20 words, not easy, credit where credits due

admittedly Romney makes an easy target for an operator like reid, but still

i would support Chris Christie as Veep just to get his fat ass outta Trenton. but since Romney is probably gonna lose we'd be stuck with Fat Fuck for at least another year.

I was living in Florida when Rick Scott was elected. He just scraped out a win and his approval rating dropped about 25 points in four weeks. Also, he's from the planet Xflyzt 500-B.

haha his collapse and its speed were pretty stunning. I've literally met no one who voted for him in 2010 who doesn't look away in embarrassmet.

Well they deserve what they get, ie opprobrium.

"It’s worth recalling how Ryan became a semi-household name." - whose household is this?

red states

going to synagogue shortly. i'm going to conduct an informal poll of the 95% conservative congregation about what they think of ryan. i suspect 90% of them haven't heard of him.

(lowercase c conservative obv)

Harry Reid dominated campaign news for a week based on saying like 20 words, not easy, credit where credits due

^^^^

i think it was actually closer to two weeks, even?