Romney picks Paul Ryan as his running mate **official thread**

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Okay. We'll see how this plays out. My thoughts, in no particular order:

There are definitely points of view from which this is a good pick, but I'd caution anybody inclined to use phrases like 'game-changer' to adjust their expectations a bit. Romney was pretty strongly associated with Ryan and his ilk anyway. All this changes is putting an anodyne and (relatively) articulate face on that, which I'm not so sure will sway many people at this point.

Could help with turnout, but that'll be a double-edge sword.

Ryan helps, if he does so anywhere, in his own state (likely not enough), Iowa (if it's enough, it'll be enough due to factors including but not limited to Paul Ryan), and New Hampshire (Ryan might shake things up a bit here, for reasons that Ernest indicated). Possibly Virginia. I'm not convinced about anywhere else, except states that Romney's leading in anyway (I include North Carolina in this category). He doesn't hurt in Ohio. He might hurt in Florida and the West.

Romney might end up being overshadowed the same way McCain was, but I'm not sure Ryan has the pizzazz/novelty factor of early-period Palin.

There are a lot worse picks Romney could have made, and I was obviously hoping he'd make them, but I'm pretty sure there were better picks too.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Guys, it isn't "rumors".  CNN says they have three different GOP sources confirming this.  NBC, the AP, etc. have multiple sources.  The Romney campaign is obviously watching all of this.  If it wasn't Ryan, it would be kind of a humiliation for him, to have this many news outlets saying it's him, and then for Romney to pick someone else.  The Romney campaign would have put out a statement correcting the record by now if it wasn't true.

Also the fact that it's going to be on the U.S.S. Wisconsin is a pretty obvious confirmation. You don't put Paul Ryan on your heavily publicized shortlist, pick a boat named after his home state, and then announce that it's someone else. Mitt Romney may be a heartless monster, but he wouldn't be that cruel.

If Ryan knows he's not the guy, and agrees to this ruse, what is the harm in leaking false info to liberal outlets and letting it get out of control? Especially if you release the tax returns at the same time. One, you destroy the credibility of anonymous sources. Two, you expose what a massive fraud Reid's tax claim was, and how the media is desperate to get Obama help. Three, the Obama campaign ends up wasting all night getting ready to cream Ryan in the morning. Four, people will talk about all of this right up till the convention. Most importantly, the tax issue is buried and anonymous sources are a joke for the rest of the campaign.

The choice is not official until Romney says so. When advisors to GW Bush went to sleep the day before the announcement, they thought Danforth was the guy. Bush broke shocking news to his advisors the next morning.

He's announcing on the USS Wisconsin, bro. His campaign's also never really been good at controlling the flow of information.