The Legend of Paul Ryan Fades

[Landslide Lyndon]

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/10/paul-ryan-legend-dissipates.html

In the interview, Wallace tries to walk through the facts with Ryan. He begins by asking about the cost of the rate cuts, which is about $5 trillion over a decade. Ryan refuses to answer the question. He tries various tricks to avoid it. First he pretends Wallace is asking a different question — that he’s asking about the net cost of the entire plan, rather than the gross cost of the rate cuts. He cracks jokes about the unreliability of statistics. He filibusters by making a speech about economic growth.

Wallace asks the question seven times, and Ryan fills one minute and 48 seconds avoiding it. Finally, the final time Wallace asks Ryan to give him the math, Ryan asserts, “It would take me too long to go through all the math.” There was plenty of time if he hadn’t spent two minutes dodging the question! In any case, the math doesn’t take a long time to explain, but Ryan doesn’t want to explain it, because it would reveal unavoidable and unpopular trade-offs in the campaign’s tax plan that he’d rather conceal.

...

Ryan is still an extremely skilled bullsh**tter — vastly better at it than Romney. But he’s actually seeing, for the first time, questions that attempt to pry information out of him, rather than the batting practice lobs to which he’s accustomed. He’s going to emerge from the race with his legend punctured.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Paul Ryan's image was always a huge myth, of course, but the reason it persisted was because the media always treated him with kid gloves. He's never done anything more complicated than running in his house district and appearing on patty-cake interviews on early afternoon Fox News panels where he was given free reign to say and do whatever he wanted and none of it was ever seriously challenged. Until now. At even the simplest of questions, Ryan's image has melted entirely. What lefties were saying about him all alone was completely vindicated against the beltway's conventional wisdom.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

There never was "The Legend of Paul Ryan" in first place: just a few talking points.

[Yank2133]

Paul Ryan's image was always a huge myth, of course, but the reason it persisted was because the media always treated him with kid gloves. He's never done anything more complicated than running in his house district and appearing on patty-cake interviews on early afternoon Fox News panels where he was given free reign to say and do whatever he wanted and none of it was ever seriously challenged. Until now. At even the simplest of questions, Ryan's image has melted entirely. What lefties were saying about him all alone was completely vindicated against the beltway's conventional wisdom.

Pretty much this.

Dude is a fraud.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Paul Ryan's image was always a huge myth, of course, but the reason it persisted was because the media always treated him with kid gloves. He's never done anything more complicated than running in his house district and appearing on patty-cake interviews on early afternoon Fox News panels where he was given free reign to say and do whatever he wanted and none of it was ever seriously challenged. Until now. At even the simplest of questions, Ryan's image has melted entirely. What lefties were saying about him all alone was completely vindicated against the beltway's conventional wisdom.

Pretty much this.

Dude is a fraud.

Fraud is being kind. I've been sick of listening to the beltway media and the proponents of the centrist consensus swoon over him ever since he introduced his "bold" and "brave" "budget" that included magical numbers he made up himself in 2010 which somehow convinced the media that the Republican Party wasn't intellectually bankrupt.

[memphis]

Ryan is as skilled at selling voucherized Medicare as anybody could be. The country just doesn't want it. And it's amazing how the entire GOP intensely plays the incongruous roles of both deficit hawk and tax cut fanatics. And they always get away with it. The Dems aren't a thousandth as good at sales as the Republicans are. And the few who are, like Bill Clinton, are skilled at selling themselves rather than important ideas.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

His reputation as an 'honest broker' is rightly being torn to shreds...

[Likely Voter]

Ryan was suposed to be the detail oriented wonky guy who was going to make the case for Romney. But since his nomination he has actually refused to talk details saying things like "we dont have time" "I dont want to get wonky" and the old "we will get into that with congress (after the election)"

If they arent going to let Ryan be Ryan, why did they pick him? It looks like WI has flipped back to being in the same lean Obama category as PA and MI. Ryan has distanced himself from his hardline social positions, saying he is VP to Romney and so Romney's views trump his. So if he isnt going to be a conservative wonk, doesnt give geographic bump and is refusing to be a culture warrior, what is the point?

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

The main reason for Ryan not talking detail is that he knows how politically toxic those 'details' are...

[milhouse24]

I knew Paul Ryan would be toxic because of his medicare statements.  Its killing Romney in Florida, when Romney should have a strong lead. 

I always thought John Thune or even Portman would be better and at the very least do no harm and not lose winnable states. 

The only reason Paul is on the ticket now is that he is Catholic, so he better start showing up at Mass everday. 

[Peeperkorn]

What legend? He always looked like an evil nerd.