Obama acknowledges Ryan stature, rips his policies
| WASHINGTON
Mitt Romney's running mate, Paul聽Ryan, gets these glowing testimonials on the campaign trail: "An articulate spokesperson for Gov. Romney's vision." ''A serious guy with serious ideas." Those are the appraisals from none other than Barack聽Obama聽and Joe Biden.
Not your typical partisan line of criticism. But unlike the聽Obama聽camp's initially dismissive approach toward Sarah Palin in 2008, the president's team is portraying聽Ryan聽as the picture of gravitas. It's all about building him up to better tear him and Romney down.
From the moment Romney picked the Wisconsin congressman as his vice presidential candidate,聽Obama'scampaign has redoubled its efforts to draw attention to the Republican budget plan聽Ryan聽wrote and that the GOP majority in the House passed. In聽Ryan,聽Obama's聽campaign team in Chicago concluded they had the perfect counterpoint to an election that had the makings of a referendum on the president's handling of the lackluster economy.
On the Campaign Trail with the Romney-Ryan ticket
"They are playing on our turf right now,"聽Obama聽pollster Joel Benenson said Thursday.
Obama's聽team has focused particularly on the聽Ryan聽budget's proposal to alter Medicare, seeking to sow doubt and fears among older voters. Romney's camp, anticipating the criticism, engaged in the debate head-on, launching a pre-emptive ad that takes issue with聽Obama's聽health care plan and its reductions in Medicare spending
"I'm sure they have convinced themselves that doing that helps them politically somehow," Romney's senior adviser, Kevin Madden, said. "But I think it's an admission that Paul聽Ryan聽is the real deal when it comes to talking about ideas and issues."
"Team聽Obama聽clearly would rather run against聽Ryan/Romney than Romney/Ryan," adds political strategist Mark McKinnon, a top adviser in the campaigns of George W. Bush and John McCain. "They want to make the election a referendum on聽Ryan's聽budget."
To be sure, in conservative circles聽Ryan聽is well-regarded as a lawmaker steeped in policy and budget data. And among colleagues from both parties he is seen as a smart, genial and forceful advocate of his positions. But聽Ryan, a youthful-looking, 42-year-old, seven-term representative from Wisconsin, is not well-known to the general public and ripe for being defined by both camps.
In raising聽Ryan's聽stature,聽Obama聽and his campaign aides are choosing to legitimize him as an intellectual leader of the party's conservative wing. That reverses the approach聽Obama's聽aides took in 2008 following McCain's selection of Palin as his running mate. At the time, the聽Obama聽camp saw Palin as an untested, underexperienced candidate who undermined McCain's main argument against聽Obama聽as a first-term senator too callow to occupy the White House.
The聽Obama聽camp's first reaction to Palin's selection came in a news release: "Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency." And while聽Obama聽dialed back the criticism, the campaign still used Palin to focus on McCain's selection process, calling his management "impulsive" and "erratic."
While聽Obama聽aides say they are equally surprised by聽Ryan's聽selection, impulsive and erratic aren't how they are defining Romney's choice. Instead, they cast it as an affirmation of Romney's true ideological position.
What's more, the announcement of a running mate usually showers massive media attention on a presidential challenger, leaving the opposition momentarily in the dark. But聽Ryan's聽selection allowed聽Obama聽to stay in the fray, reinforcing his argument that Romney would implement the Republican budget with its deep spending cuts and tax breaks for the wealthy.
Obama聽aides point to headlines in Florida newspapers following聽Ryan's聽selection that focus on how older Americans would be affected by聽Ryan's聽plan to overhaul Medicare by creating vouchers, or payments in support of premiums, that would require future older generations to obtain their own health care plans. Independent analysts say seniors would likely have greater out-of-pocket costs.
The Romney camp has not hidden from the issue. It has responded by drawing attention to聽Obama's聽health care plan, which includes reductions in Medicare spending of $700 billion over 10 years. Those cuts come from health providers, not from benefits to seniors. But while Romney has said he would repeal聽Obama's聽health plan and reinstate the Medicare funds that聽Obama聽would cut,聽Ryan's聽budget included the same reductions asObama聽and slows spending even more.
Asked about that on Thursday,聽Ryan聽offered a budget process answer, saying he would not have included the $700 billion in cuts if聽Obama聽hadn't done it first.
"He put those cuts there,"聽Ryan聽said. "We would never have done it in the first place."
Often, running mate selections give challengers greater media exposure that is on balance positive for days. But聽Ryan聽presents a "target rich environment," said Democratic strategist Doug Hattaway, a top aide in Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign in 2008.
"Palin was more of a blank slate 鈥� the first woman on the Republican ticket. It was easier to roll her out without a lot of substance and people got excited," he said. "A vice presidential pick with a record to pick on minimizes the honeymoon."
