For wary Tea Party, Ryan could make Romney easier to swallow
Reuters ^ | August 11, 2012
Posted on August 11, 2012 8:33:30 PM EDT by 2ndDivisionVet
For Tea Party activists uninspired by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the choice of fiscally conservative Congressman Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate might allow them to vote in November without holding their noses.
Hours after Romney's announcement on Saturday, Tea Partiers' reactions ranged from "Wow!" to "a step up from Romney" to "this doesn't change a thing for me" - what one would expect from a notoriously fragmented coalition bound by a desire for smaller government.
Many hailed the selection of as a sign of fiscally conservative movement's growing influence on the Republican Party platform. Others said it will not eradicate the enthusiasm deficit among conservatives that has dogged the former Massachusetts governor's campaign.
"This absolutely brings excitement to the ticket," said Debbie Dooley, co-founder of the Atlanta Tea Party, who said she her reaction was "Wow!" when she heard the news. "This gives us something to vote for rather than voting against (incumbent Democratic U.S. President Barack) Obama."
The main reason for that excitement is, as Dooley puts it, that Ryan has "bold ideas for true reform."
The blend of tax and spending cuts that the congressman and chairman of the powerful House Budget Committee has laid out in what has been called the "Ryan plan" broadly reflects the Tea Party movement's core tenets of fiscal responsibility and limited government.
Although Democrats have lambasted the "Ryan plan" as an extreme measure that would gut Medicaid and Social Security for the elderly, some fiscal conservatives deem it too timid...
(Excerpt) Read more at in.reuters.com ...
Died up ready to go.
