Mitt had greatness thrust upon him. And he ducked.

Starts it off by calling Ryan "the next president of the United States."  Somebody has to tell him he said it wrong.  Comes back and says he's made mistakes before.  Heh heh.  Battleship in the background.  Romney, no jacket; Ryan, no tie.  just a couple of guys.  Battleship in the background. 

They're gonna fix things.  Ryan:  "Our economy will make a come-back.  More jobs.  We'll get us back on the right track."

No mention of which side brought us to the brink in the first place.

Battleship in the background.  Flags flying.  Ryan mentions Bain Capital.  Romney shows how a free economy works. 

Shouts of "Obamaloney" in the background.

"We can't get it from government" gets a big hand and cries of "USA!  USA! USA!

And it goes on. . .

What this pick  means is that Mitt Romney's internals are horrible, this is an indication  that he didn't have his base sewn up. (And he didn't have his base sewn up), and this isn't going to help him,. So Bill Kristol picks another idiotic candidate! What? Hahaha doesn't he remember Sarah Palin, Kristol's last epic fail  pick! OMG this is so awesome, seriously, I can already see the adds against Ryan, get rid of social security, yep, get rid of student loans, yep, less taxes for the rich, yep, and the Ryan budget is going to be a center  piece of the attacks.

I just can't believe how  lucky this President is, seriously,

And WTF did they really run out of a battleship? What?  Oh right it is cool for Republicans to pretend to be warriors!

Mitt Romney, weakest candidate of the millennia.

Officially now the party of Medicare for none on one side, against the party of mixed bag Obamacare on the other side.

With the majority of all citizens who say they want Medicare for all remaining unrepresented in this election on one of the public policy issues of most immediate, direct and grave impact on them.  

Could there be a simpler way to illustrate that our political system at the moment reflects the rule of, by and for corporate special interests? Abe Lincoln turns over in his grave, again, repulsed by what his political party has become.

My other thought is for the first time I'm beginning to wonder if, deep down, Romney really wants the job after all.  Which, come to think of it, might be one of the few indicators of cerebral cortex activity we've seen from the man.  It's been such a parade of unforced errors.  Just because you've been a governor of a fairly large state doesn't mean you're ready for national prime time.  If he really thinks Paul Ryan is marked by his excellent judgment--or that the selection of Ryan by him marks Romney as someone with excellent judgment--then he's an even dimmer bulb than I had thought.  I wasn't sure that was possible.

I've been fearing Romney might take Ryan for a long time, specifically because the guy comes off well.  He has the pathological narcissist's ability to charm.

But now, having had the Obama campaign frame him as an enemy of the middle-class, this move on Romney's part is a joke.  Yes, he's asking how high when the conservatives say jump, but, really, he's put the debate exactly where the Obama campaign wants it to be, and where every endangered Democratic Senator and Congressman wants it to be too.  It's not impossible that Ryan just might lose the Republicans some in the balance seats too.  Let's hope.  

Meantime, put Florida in Obama's column.  29 votes.

I think David Frum has summed it up perfectly: (I can't believe I just wrote that)

The likely script of the next attack ad. A woman in her later 40s, looking worried at a kitchen table. She's probably vaguely Latino; the photos on her refrigerator (kids, no dad) suggest a single mom.

A woman's voice over. "You've worked hard all your life. You've paid Medicare taxes for almost 30 years. But under the Republican plan, Medicare won't be there for you. Instead of Medicare as it exists now, under the Republican plan you'll get a voucher that will pay as little as half your Medicare costs when you turn 65—and as little as a quarter in your 80s. And all so that millionaires and billionaires can have a huge tax cut."

That ad will draw blood and will—as Henry Kissinger used to say—have the additional merit of being true.

The following noted by Michael Tomasky on Daily Beast site this a.m. states one of the main reasons I really didn't think Romney would pair up with Ryan:

Romney will become in some senses the running mate—the ticket’s No. 2.

Think of it: The candidate will be running on his vice president’s ideas! It’s a staggering thought. Ryan might as well debate Obama this October, and Romney can square off against Biden.

Of course, there is the sentiment stated by others that Romney, for all his posturing, really doesn't possess any good ideas of his own to put forth. (At least any that aren't rife with flip flops and/or lacking base processes of how to get from point A. to B.)

I'm having a hard time coming up with a scenario whereby this pick helps Romney. The only people who love Ryan are the ones who NEVER would have voted for Obama anyway.

I don't think Romney picked Ryan because he really believes he is the right man for the job, I think he picked him out of desperation. Bold, my ass. It was opportunistic, plain and simple. Just like Palin was. The difference is Ryan has a brain, even though that brain thinks ker-azy stuff.

The quick ad up from the Obama camp shows they knew this was a possibility. That's a good thing. Just as they were able to define Romney, hopefully they will be able to define Ryan, as well.

The right will come out to vote FOR Ryan, but they would have come out anyway to vote AGAINST Obama, given how much they hate him. So their motivation is of little importance, as far as I can tell.

Now the question is, will the left come out to vote AGAINST Ryan, when they aren't so keen to vote FOR Obama.

If not, we can only hope there are enough people in the middle who are scared to death of what a takeover by the crazies will mean for the country.

-Stilli (aka Janet Forrest - I'm coming out of the political closet)