I’m not sure whether his literary model was Iago or Grima Wormtongue, but Eric Cantor (R-IwannabeSpeaker) thinks Paul Ryan should challenge President Obama, right now. Per Steve Benen at the Washington Monthly:
As Republican officials continue to wonder who they might be able to recruit to run for president, it appears the House Majority Leader has someone specific in mind.
[…]Count House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) as one top Republican who’d like to see Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) jump into the presidential race. Cantor responded immediately when asked Monday whether Ryan, a rising GOP star and author of the party’s official budget plan, should run for the White House in 2012.
“Sure,” Cantor said. “Paul’s about real leadership. I think that that’s what this public so desperately wants to do right now. They don’t want to see individuals that just dismiss problems that we can just sweep under the rug.”
That would be the Paul Ryan Dave Weigel at Slate described in his post on “The Why the Hell Not?’ Presidential Candidates: A Bluffer’s Guide“:
Rep. Paul Ryan, 41. Elected in 1998, rising to chair the Budget Committee this year, Ryan benefits from a little-read provision of the Affordable Care Act which requires the word “courage” to be used in every sentence about his ideas. THE BOOMLET: Bill Kristol can’t stop talking about a Ryan candidacy, because the GOP needs “a bold and comprehensive critique, and a grasp of sound political economy” in its next candidate. Republican allies of Ryan mention it unbidden; Rep. Trey Gowdy told me he asks Ryan to run just about every day. Yesterday, Eric Cantor confirmed that he thinks Ryan would be a good candidate. THE AGENDA: He doesn’t have one, but when he’s asked, he draws more attention to his work on the Budget Committee. SELLING A BOOK? No. HIS CHANCES: Honestly, this is an example of why the draft campaigns (if “mentioning someone on TV sometimes” counts as a draft”) are so silly — Ryan has defined the GOP’s agenda for 2011. If you want to see what happens to doubters, look for Newt Gingrich.
Wow, a precious endorsement from Bill ‘Crystal Ball’ Kristol, The Man Who Is Always Wrong! No wonder Benen’s post concludes:
Cantor’s description of Ryan is pretty silly. The right-wing Budget Committee chairman’s agenda can be called many things, but an example of “real leadership” it isn’t…
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At this point, Dems are thrilled to have Ryan’s plan as a punching bag, desperately trying to pin down other Republicans on whether they’re on board with a radical scheme to eliminate Medicare, just as GOP lawmakers and candidates are feeling increasingly antsy about it. Imagine how much Dems would enjoy targeting Ryan himself.
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For the record, Ryan was asked about this on “Meet the Press” yesterday, and ruled out a presidential bid, at least in 2012.
File this one under ‘Clown Shoes’. Also, ‘Open Thread’.
Omnes Omnibus
Oh FYWP. Moderate this!
SiubhanDuinne
O/T already (kind of), but speaking of fights, it seems there was a little contretemps at a congressional hearing this afternoon between Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-McLiberty-McDeath).
Damn it. I STILL can’t figure out how to do a nice clean embedded hyperlink to an article. So here’s the ugly link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/business/25consume.html?hp
Hunter Gathers
Can you say brokered convention, boys and girls? I can.
And it will take all five days of said convention to come up with a ticket, as most of the deal making will be made in the Champagne Rooms of Tampa’s finest up-scale strip clubs. “I’m not sure if I want to cast my vote for Chris Christie quite yet. Perhaps another lap dance will persuade me.”
SiubhanDuinne
Oh, and by the way, Anne Laurie (as long as it’s just the two of us hanging around at the moment), many thanks for your recommendation of Cave of Forgotten Dreams. Saw it Sunday, not in 3D (that is just way too sophisticated for the one Atlanta theatre that’s showing it) but it was lovely and gripping and moving anyhow. I probably wouldn’t even have heard of it if you hadn’t mentioned it a few days ago.
ETA: No offense, HunterGathers, you showed up while I was still typing.
beltane
They really do live in a bubble, don’t they. It’s amazing how people can live in this country their whole lives and still be so hermetically sealed-off from their fellow citizens. All the vouchers in the world wouldn’t be enough to buy these idiots a clue.
jacy
@Hunter Gathers:
Please never use the words “Chris Christie” and lap dance in proximity with one another again.
Frankensteinbeck (The ex-Uloborus)
@beltane:
I hereby predict that the Republican candidate for president in 2012 will lose by 20 points, then be arrested trying to move into the White House because Rush said he won by 5.
SiubhanDuinne
@Hunter Gathers:
Dibs on the popcorn concession.
Karen
Sorry to sound stupid but what’s a “brokered convention” as opposed to a non brokered convention?
Han's Solo
I’ll make a prediction: By the end of next month no Republican will even want to hear Paul Ryan’s name. By then the uproar over his plan to exchange Medicare for coupon books will have made him into a political leper.
And since this is an open thread let me ask all ya’all a question: Every time I see Chris Christie on my TV I imagine him yelling angrily, “GET IN MY BELLY!!!” Does anyone else have the same Christie experience?
jnfr
Couple of supercell tornadoes just touched down in Oklahoma City.
Jay in Oregon
Did anyone else read this and see “A Fluffer’s Guide”?
@Karen:
IANAPW (I Am Not a Politcal Wonk) but I believe a brokered convention refers to a time where there is no one strong candidate that appeals to the party as a whole, so the various factions work out a compromise. That’s how James Garfield — who wasn’t even an announced candidate — ended up getting his party’s nomination.
Linda Featheringill
@jnfr:
I’ve been following Weather Channel’s tweets in OK. OK City was predicted to be at risk from 5 to 7 o’clock central time and it looks like the tornadoes are right on time.
Two hours is a long time to be in this kind of storm. A lot could happen.
Mike in NC
As children, both Cantor and Ryan must have been picked on a lot at school for being such sniveling weasels. Now it’s all about payback.
Mike in NC
A wingnut group calling itself “RINO Hunt” has decided SC Governor Nikki Haley isn’t pure enough to be one of them.
http://www.thesunnews.com/2011/05/24/2177095/tea-party-activists-lobbing-criticism.html
Fred
Has wrong way Kristol ever been right about anything? Just asking because I can’t think of one thing in recent memory.
cleek
maybe rank and file Dems are.
House Dems ? no way. they want to put their biggest, clearest, more salient advantage “on the table”. because they are fucking retarded.
fasteddie9318
@cleek:
And this is why we can’t have nice things.
eric
@cleek: I dont think that says what TPM says it says. “Cuts” is not the same thing as benefit cuts….i will wait and see what comes out of it before i go postal
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@Frankensteinbeck (The ex-Uloborus):
I like your style, but sadly, this is never going to happen. The era of Goldwater 64/McGovern 72 blowouts is over. I’ve come to the conclusion that they were an artifact of the (by today’s standards) peculiar era before the GOP Southern Strategy ran its course, back when there were still numerous conservative Dems in the south and moderate/liberal Republicans in the north making up a substantial swing group that could flip in either direction depending on the details of each election. Those folks have gone the way of the Bison. Today you could run the best possible candidate from one major party against Botulism in a Can from the other party and Botulism would still get 45% of the vote. A 10-point margin is a epic wipeout in today’s US.
Frankensteinbeck (The ex-Uloborus)
@cleek:
While I don’t have the faith in congress I have in Obama, all previous language turned out to mean ‘We’d love to fix it. Cutting it is not going to happen.’ I’m thinking this will turn out to be another ‘He’s totally going to endorse Simpson-Bowles!’ rumor.
Triassic Sands
Wow, that’s hilarious. Sweeping under the rug is exactly what Ryan’s plan does — only what gets swept under the rug are the millions of poor and elderly people who will suffer (and, yes, many will die) if Republican plans to gut or kill Medicaid and Medicare are enacted.
The Ryan Plan does nothing to solve our health care problems, it simply shifts the red ink from government ledgers to individuals, many of whom won’t be able to afford the bills. That isn’t responsible. It’s crazy, which has become the hallmark of GOP policies.
Ryan is the perfect embodiment of the insanity of the Republican Party, and while Obama doesn’t seem to me to be the analogous representative for traditional Democratic Party values, he’s all we’ve got right now to argue our side. A head-to-head confrontation between Ryan and Obama would give Democrats the ideal platform on which to contrast Republican oligarchy with a more responsible and fair plan for the future. It would be a great place to set Ryan’s health care plans, which will leave millions without coverage and even dead, side-by-side with a national health care system in which everyone is covered.
danimal
@Fred: Can we get Ryan to run with Kristol as his advisor? Pretty please?
And perhaps we can get Bob Shrum to cross party lines and run the campaign. That should just about seal the 2012 election.
A Humble Lurker
@SiubhanDuinne:
Youtube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RET2Z5AVJ8A
cleek
@eric:
it is in a 30 second commercial. it’s a big part of why the GOP won in 2010.
El Cid
I suppose next you’ll tell us that Bill Kristol was wrong in sensing Sarah Palin’s brilliance on that National Review cruise and knowing that she was the perfect VP candidate for the Republicans to keep the White House?