It's just like I wrote in the above article. The GOP just gave the election to Obama because Romney cannot successfully separate himself from the Ryan Budget. Get your Paul Ryan 2016 Buttons now! But expect the re-election of Obama.
The Australian Financial Review-
GOP looks to distinguish Romney from Ryan budget
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, left, and his vice presidential running mate Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., arrive at a campaign rally Sunday, August 12, 2012 in Mooresville, N.C. at the NASCAR Technical Institute. (AP Photo/Jason E. Miczek)
By KASIE HUNT Associated Press / August 12, 2012Text Size:- –
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MOORESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Mitt Romney’s campaign sought to put some distance Sunday between the presidential candidate and his new running mate’s controversial budget proposals, even as Paul Ryan’s selection energized Republican voters and Romney himself.
But President Barack Obama’s campaign made clear they planned to aggressively cast Ryan’s budget as outside the mainstream — and argue that Romney now owns that plan, too.
‘‘Gov. Romney is at the top of the ticket. And Governor Romney’s vision for the country is something that Congressman Ryan supports,’’ Romney spokesman Kevin Madden said Sunday during a briefing for reporters.
Ed Gillespie, a senior adviser to the Republican campaign, said Romney would have signed Ryan’s budget if landed on his desk as president. But he emphasized that as president Romney would ‘‘be putting forward his own budget.’’
The Romney campaign’s efforts to draw that distinction underscored the political risk in picking Ryan, the architect of an austere, long-term budget plan remaking Medicare and cutting trillions in federal spending.
David Axelrod, Obama’s senior adviser, cast Ryan as a ‘‘right wing ideologue’’ who wants to convert Medicare into a voucher plan and put the popular health-care program for the elderly in ‘‘a death spiral.’’
‘‘It is a pick that is meant to thrill the most strident voices in the Republican Party, but it’s one that should trouble everybody else — the middle class, seniors, students,’’ Axelrod said Sunday on CNN’s ‘‘State of the Union.’’
Ryan’s addition to the GOP ticket appeared to reinvigorate Romney, who cast the selection as the start of a new phase for a campaign seeking to break out of a summer slump.
‘‘This is Day Two for me,’’ said Romney during a campaign rally with his running mate in North Carolina. ‘‘This is Day Two on our comeback tour to get America strong again, to rebuild the promise of America.’’
Romney announced his vice presidential pick Saturday morning at the start of a four-day bus tour that would serve as an introduction to Ryan for many voters.
A recent CNN/ORC international poll showed a majority of voters had no opinion of the congressman. Nearly 40 percent had never heard of him and 16 percent weren’t sure what they thought of him.
Romney’s selection of Ryan jolted the presidential contest and set the contours for the fall campaign: Romney as a proponent of a friendlier business climate seeking to revitalize the economy and rein in federal spending while Obama seeks to cast himself as a defender of middle-class families and federal spending on health care, retirement pensions and education.
Still, the fundamentals of the campaign remained unchanged: a race defined by a weak economy and high unemployment, measured most recently at 8.3 percent in July. Recent national polls as well as surveys in several battleground states indicate a narrow advantage for Obama, though Romney hopes to get a boost of momentum from the attention he was getting with his running-mate announcement.
It remains uncertain whether Ryan on the ticket will influence the state-by-state race to reach the 270 electoral votes needed to claim the White House.
Democrats say Romney’s embrace of Ryan could open the door for Obama with older voters in battleground states like Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania who may be wary of the Wisconsin congressman’s plans for remaking Medicare.
The Obama campaign was readying state-specific strategies aimed at seniors in Florida and Ohio. The campaign also planned to target young people and military service members who they believe will oppose other elements of Ryan’s proposed budget cuts.
As chairman of the House Budget Committee, Ryan is the primary author of conservative tax and spending blueprints that the tea party-infused Republican majority approved over vigorous Democratic opposition in 2011 and again in 2012.
They envision transforming Medicare into a program in which future seniors would receive government checks that they could use to purchase health insurance. Under the current program, the government directly pays doctors, hospitals and other health care providers.
Ryan and other supporters say the change is needed to prevent the program from financial calamity. Critics argue it would impose ever-increasing costs on seniors.
Other elements of the budget plan would cut projected spending for Medicaid, which provides health care for the poor, as well as food stamps, student loans and other social programs that Obama and Democrats have pledged to defend.Continued...
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