Ryan Over Spilt Milk

We've gone from a sad complain to a real campaign in the space of a name. Paul Ryan. He is we hear a wiz kid, a tone-deaf fool and the gift that keeps on giving. He has forced priorities on a Congress of such low regard and little principle that coherent sentences are considered controversial. Yet he is so tone-deaf that he will single-handedly scuttle every close race this cycle.

The internal division over the selection of Paul Ryan as the assumed Republican nominee for vice president has gripped both parties with equal vigor. Democrats are giddy about the possibility of running against his willingness to save their favorite entitlement. But they quietly worry that he might have out progressed them. Republicans are giddy about an energetic idea man giving direction to their ticket. But they quietly worry he might have out thought them.

I think the selection is brilliant and risky and no where in politics is that a good combination. Politics is supposed to be about caution and reaction even when it seems to be about leadership. "Hope and change" should have convinced us about that. President Obama's 2008 campaign was designed in reaction to the Bush presidency, not in anticipation of the future. All of the president's myriad gifts were lost on governance because his candidacy was built on opposition and vagaries. 

Mitt is the embodiment of caution and bad at reaction. Now he is the champion of calculation. The math was simple. A Republican will be saddled with the record of Congress and the bogeyman of MediScare, better to add an articulate and capable champion and multiply by enthusiasm.

People are excited by Ryan. Or they will be. He is young. Athletic. Smart. Articulate. And above all he is so bold he has forced his entire caucus to back his youth, intelligence and boldness.  Excitement leads to votes and votes lead to victory. 

Romney could have lost over Ryan, but Ryan was going to be a reality in the race regardless. 

Choosing intelligence and boldness is exactly the right choice. If the darker instincts of our national nature lead to defeat for the ticket, it will certainly lead to a new paradigm over time. It is always better to make the best of spilt milk.