Quote
rjmacs
He is a career politician and a survivor in a swing district, so yeah - he's an opportunist in practice.

That's interesting, i suppose, but it doesn't make me feel any better. Lots of extremist radicals start as opportunists who 'pass' and bide their time until they find weak spots in the system to exploit. This is true on all sides of the political spectrum, not just the right. Political opportunists with extremist hearts are more dangerous as they acquire more power and influence. This was the great fear built around the spectre of the "Radical Obama" in 2008; the difference in his case, of course, is that based on the history, speeches, writings, and record, Obama has always presented as a left-leaning centrist, not a radical. Ryan, on the other hand, has carefully built test crafts to carry his far-right notions into legislation and policy. As they've failed, he's retooled and recrafted them in a slow, steady effort to find a 'sweet spot' with traction. Given the opportunity, i think he'd make every effort to push that agenda even further.

Quote
Ted King

Quote
rjmacs
He is a career politician and a survivor in a swing district, so yeah - he's an opportunist in practice.

That's interesting, i suppose, but it doesn't make me feel any better. Lots of extremist radicals start as opportunists who 'pass' and bide their time until they find weak spots in the system to exploit. This is true on all sides of the political spectrum, not just the right. Political opportunists with extremist hearts are more dangerous as they acquire more power and influence. This was the great fear built around the spectre of the "Radical Obama" in 2008; the difference in his case, of course, is that based on the history, speeches, writings, and record, Obama has always presented as a left-leaning centrist, not a radical. Ryan, on the other hand, has carefully built test crafts to carry his far-right notions into legislation and policy. As they've failed, he's retooled and recrafted them in a slow, steady effort to find a 'sweet spot' with traction. Given the opportunity, i think he'd make every effort to push that agenda even further.

Those are excellent points. I guess I was just reacting to what I see as a perception that too many people seem to have of him being more virtuous than a typical politician in hewing to his beliefs about economics. (I think it's true that he's not as much of an opportunist as Romney, but few politicians are so that's not necessarily saying much.)

Quote
rjmacs

Quote
Ted King

Those are excellent points. I guess I was just reacting to what I see as a perception that too many people seem to have of him being more virtuous than a typical politician in hewing to his beliefs about economics. (I think it's true that he's not as much of an opportunist as Romney, but few politicians are so that's not necessarily saying much.)

Really? I think that perception is being quickly tempered by his track record, and was a distortion from the outset. I also suspect that it was mostly a distortion from outside the Tea Party set, who have never held Ryan up as a personal hero, but as a rhetorical leader.

Quote
cbelt3
I guess I don't understand the panic associated with Congressman Ryan. After all, he's running for Vice President.
/quote]

panic?

Quote
cbelt3
I guess I don't understand the panic associated with Congressman Ryan. After all, he's running for Vice President.

Based on some of his gaffes, sometimes it appears that Vice President Biden is running for the other party.

Or is there a general assumption that Ryan's are the hands operating the controls on the Romney etch-a-sketch ?