Paul ryan knows how to play the game. I'm pretty sure he'd rather interact with people on a "real" photo op, serving food and chatting with them about their interests, thoughts on the future of America, etc. I'm pretty sure he wasn't excited about cleaning empty pots - especially because they didn't coordinate with the owner and chose the one soup kitchen whose owner went out of their way to throw them under the bus. Owner sure didn't have to say those pots were already clean. Embarassing. This one is the fault of the staff - not Ryan.
But Paul Ryan isn't a maverick - he wants to be at the front of the party for the next 20 years, and he certainly can and will be. Romney wins and he's up for POTUS in 2020 no matter what. ROmney loses and he's up front for 2016 - with the full party behind him. Palin was a 'maverick' - and she wasn't invited to speak at convention, and FOX didn't even put her out there with a mic. She was the most exciting thing in the GOP in 2008, and they treat her terribly in 2012... because she didn't play ball.
Paul Ryan is playing ball, doing the silly photo shoots, but showing the GOP leadership he isn't a maverick - he's a safe and dependable option. And he'll probably be presidnt one day, no matter what happens in 2012 election. Photo ops are probably the riskiest thing for candidates, besides the debate. You can't control the circumstances (remember palin with the turkeys getting woodchipped behind her?) But ya gotta do them.
So while this one kinda sucks for Ryan, his target audience (swing voters) aren't gonna care. Only us political junkies who love those 'gotcha' moments are paying attention to it.
