The Other McCain

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Paul Ryan Nixes 2012 White House Bid

Posted on | August 22, 2011 | 11 Comments

The Weekly Standard has been one of the biggest cheerleaders for this idea, and now breaks the news to the readers it has been hyping up:

Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan has decided for a final time that he will not run for president in 2012, THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned. Ryan, who began seriously considering a bid in late May after Indiana governor Mitch Daniels took himself out of the race, had consulted with top Republicans, including Karl Rove and Frank Luntz, as he contemplated his political future. . . . Ryan ultimately decided to continue his focus on debt and entitlement reform as chairman of the House Budget Committee.
“I sincerely appreciate the support from those eager to chart a brighter future for the next generation. While humbled by the encouragement, I have not changed my mind, and therefore I am not seeking our party’s nomination for President. I remain hopeful that our party will nominate a candidate committed to a pro-growth agenda of reform that restores the promise and prosperity of our exceptional nation. I remain grateful to those I serve in Southern Wisconsin for the unique opportunity to advance this effort in Congress.”

You’ll notice — or at least, I noticed — that the hyping of Ryan as a 2012 candidate (long after he had already said he wouldn’t run) got more intense after T-Paw dropped and Perry got in. That’s your clue that there are specific people who were behind this bogus bandwagon for their own particular purposes. Same deal with the endless Chris Christie chatter.

Don’t get me wrong: I love Ryan and would have liked for him to get in for 2012, but there’s a lot of factional intrigue behind some of these things. Not to mention consultants wanting contracts, speechwriters wanting jobs, vendors wanting clients, etc.

Electoral politics is a multi-million-dollar industry, and if you think it’s all about ideas and idealism, you’re waaaaay wrong.

UPDATE: Nate Silver has charts — lots and lots of shiny colorful charts!

Category: Election 2012, Paul Ryan

Comments

11 Responses to “Paul Ryan Nixes 2012 White House Bid”

  1. M. Thompson
    August 22nd, 2011 @ 10:47 pm

    The issue I had with the idea of sending Mr. Ryan on to the White House is there is he was already doing a very good job at his current job, and I wasn’t sure if there was an effective replacement ready to go for him.

  2. Anonymous
    August 22nd, 2011 @ 11:20 pm

    I’m shocked.  Shocked!  Put the bong down folks.  Politics ain’t rhyme or reason, to the wee folks, but when an unknown, who’s been repeatedly villified by the Dims/MSM proganda machine, has repeatedly said, NO, at some point you need to believe him.

    Give him 8 more yrs, then you’ve got as winner.

  3. Steve in TN
    August 22nd, 2011 @ 11:56 pm

    @RepPaulRyan would have my choice as soon as announced.  Too bad.

  4. Bob Belvedere
    August 23rd, 2011 @ 12:03 am

    Don’t get me wrong: I love Ryan and would have liked for him to get in for 2012….

    Yeah, I felt that way too until I read Ryan…had consulted with top Republicans, including Karl Rove and Frank Luntz, as he contemplated his political future….  That says to me that he’s an Establishment Republican – he’s a servant of The Dark Side.

  5. McGehee
    August 23rd, 2011 @ 12:07 am

    Here’s hoping — though Scott Walker’s going to need a successor, and Ryan couldn’t go wrong posting some executive experience to his resume, if he wants the Oval Office someday.

  6. Steve Burri
    August 23rd, 2011 @ 12:22 am

     There was always zero chance of Ryan’s entry into this race. With a wife and 3 small children… and he mows his own lawn!

  7. Dave C
    August 23rd, 2011 @ 12:41 am

    After all of his ‘Yes’ votes for Bush’s expansion of the government, I can’t help but wonder if his new found position on fiscal conservatism  was merely political or if there really was a Road to Damascus conversion? (besides his own political mortality as more and more republicans were booted out of office in 06 and 08) 

    I don’t mind him being a partisan now..   It’s his job.. 

    But say someone whose name rhymes with Fitt Nomney wins the White House..  How long will he stand on those principals come budgeting time? 

  8. Anonymous
    August 23rd, 2011 @ 12:55 am

    What the Republicans need Ryan to be doing this year and next is teaching the candidates how to defend and run on reforming entitlements. The recent defeat in a US House special election is being blamed on Ryan’s medicare reform. I’ve read that the candidate attempted to deflect and avoid the mediscare charges till the end of the campaign, at which point she was unprepared.  The Republicans have grabbed this issue by the horns whether they like it or not. It is crucial that every candidate running for the House and Senate is prepared to defend reform. In my opinion Ryan is the only person on the planet who can teach them how. Mediscare won’t be his downfall, he needs to teach the others how to defend his plan.

  9. Charles
    August 23rd, 2011 @ 1:10 am

    The main point of a Paul Ryan run would be to put entitlement reform on the debate stage, but that would require having an adult conversation.

    Likely instead we would get a debate moderator chirping, “Ron Paul meet Paul Ryan, Paul Ryan meet Ron Paul.”

  10. The Cob
    August 23rd, 2011 @ 3:52 am

    Ryan getting in would have been a plus for Cain (or Palin if she does run). He would have siphoned votes from both Perry and Bachmann, bringing the whole race closer to even. If Christie were to run, I think he’d have a similar effect while also pulling in some Romney (and Huntsman/Gingrich) voters. From my Tea Party perspective, the more establishment and mainstream Republicans that stay in the race, the better.

    I disagree with the way Nate Silver charted the candidates. Here’s my attempt (sadly without the size/color bubbles).

    http://cobslog.blogspot.com/2011/08/2012-republican-presidential-field.html

  11. Adjoran
    August 23rd, 2011 @ 6:30 am

    Ryan has no executive or management experience at a high level.  That is required, sorry to fans of those without it.

    The US federal government is the largest operation in the world, with a budget larger than the entire GDP of every other country except China and Japan.  That’s just too big a job to get right off the turnip truck.  We’ve seen the results of on-the-job training from the last three elected from Congress:  Harding, Kennedy, and Obama.  All were disasters in one form or another.  Garfield did some remarkably effective work in his short time in office, but the government was far smaller in those days.