U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney's choice of Wisconsin
congressman Paul Ryan as his running mate has brought Ryan's
budget-cutting proposal to the center of the campaign debate. America's
Sunday television talk shows were consumed with the question of whether
the Ryan pick will help or hurt Romney's chances in the November
election.
Representatives of both main parties seemed pleased with Romney's
choice.
The 2008 Republican Party nominee, Arizona Senator John McCain, called
the choice “excellent."
Speaking on Fox News Sunday, McCain said Romney's choice of a policy
specialist like Ryan, who chairs the House of Representatives Budget
Committee, shows a willingness to take on the tough issues that would
seem to favor President Obama and the Democrats.
“I think it's a good matchup because of Paul Ryan's ability to carry a
Romney agenda through the Congress of the United States, and his
intimate knowledge of the budget," he said. "We all know that the
economy and jobs are the issues. There's nobody that knows these issues
better than Paul Ryan.”
Democrats on Sunday's political talk shows were equally enthusiastic
about Romney's choice, but for different reasons. They say Ryan's
budget-cutting proposals expose him as an extremist who will be easy to
attack on the campaign trail.
Obama campaign adviser David Axerlrod told ABC's This Week that Ryan is
outside the American political mainstream.
"It's a pick that is meant to thrill the most strident voices in the
Republican Party, but it is one that should trouble everybody else, the
middle class, seniors, students, because of Ryan's record. He is a
right-wing ideologue," he said.
The
Democratic National Committee Chairwoman, Representative Debbie
Wasserman Schultz, told Fox News Sunday that having Ryan on the
Republican ticket will frame the campaign debate around what she calls
his “flawed ideas."
"As a member of the budget committee myself, I've had a front row seat
to witness the architect of the Romney-Ryan budget, Paul Ryan, embrace
extremism, suggest that we should end Medicare as we know it, shred the
safety net for seniors in health care that we've had in place for more
than 50 years," she said.
Romney and Ryan were campaigning Sunday in North Carolina, a key state
carried by President Obama four years ago. The state is seen as critical
if the Republicans are to have any chance in November. Romney visits
Ohio and North Carolina, two other so-called battleground states, in the
next two days.
President Obama begins a three-day bus tour in Iowa Monday, while Vice
President Joe Biden visits North Carolina.
