Norfolk, Virginia (CNN) -- Mitt Romney on Saturday announced
U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his running mate -- a bold
and risky move that energized both conservatives and their opponents.
Ryan is a rising Republican star
and the party's leader on fiscal and budget issues. He is the architect of a
Republican spending plan that would overhaul many entitlement programs, making
him a favorite of conservatives, whose support for Romney, the presumptive
Republican presidential nominee, has been shaky.
But Romney's choice also draws
some clear lines with Romney's Democratic opponents over the size of the cuts
Ryan's plan would make as well as his votes on tax issues which Democrats say
favor the wealthiest Americans in an election in which both sides are trying to
portray themselves as the champion of the middle class.
"Congressman Paul Ryan is an
outstanding choice as our country's next vice president, and today's
announcement demonstrates Governor Romney's commitment to returning fiscal
sanity back to Washington, DC.," said former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum,
who mounted the strongest conservative challenge to Romney's campaign in the
Republican primaries. "I have long supported Paul Ryan's fiscal and entitlement
reforms to return our country back on a path of fiscal health."
But Democrats were quick to make
Ryan's fiscal policies a target.
Analysis: A bold but risky choice for running mate
"Congressman Paul Ryan and Mitt
Romney are a match made in millionaires' heaven, but they'll be a nightmare for
seniors who've earned their Medicare benefits," said New York Rep. Steve Israel,
chairman of Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, "For the last 18
months, we've said Republicans will have to defend the indefensible -- their
vote to end Medicare. Now with Congressman Ryan on the ticket, House Republicans
face the one thing they hoped to avoid -- a national debate on their budget that
puts millionaires first and Medicare and the middle class last."
The announcement comes at the end
of a week in which Democrats continued relentless attacks on Romney over his
refusal to reveal more of his tax records and which saw three polls in 24 hours
showing Obama with a growing lead over his Republican challenger.
A CNN/ORC International poll
released Thursday showed a big jump in those who had an unfavorable opinion of
the GOP candidate.
While some analysts saw Romney's
choice as risky, others thought Romney had to go big.
"With Mitt Romney losing ground
to President Obama in the polls, I don't see the selection of Paul Ryan as
'risky,' I see the choice as bold and necessary," Republican consultant Ford
O'Connell told CNN.
Timeline: Paul Ryan through the years
CNN senior political analyst
David Gergen says the Ryan pick is, "an opportunity for the Romney campaign to
go on the offense."
Ryan, appearing with Romney in
Norfolk, Virgina, at the beginning of a four-day, four-state bus tour moved
quickly to position himself and Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential
nominee, as champions of voters dissatisfied with the economy and to draw his
own contrasts with President Barack Obama.
"We won't duck the tough issues,
we will lead!," Ryan told a cheering crowd on the battleship USS Wisconsin. "We
won't blame others, we will take responsibility. We won't replace our founding
principles, we will reapply them."
"I hear some people say that
this is just 'the new normal.' Higher unemployment, declining incomes and
crushing debt is not a new normal. It's the result of misguided policies. And
next January, our economy will begin a comeback with the Romney plan for a
stronger middle class that will lead to more jobs and more take-home pay for
working Americans."
Romney called Ryan, 42, "a
faithful Catholic" who "believes in the worth and dignity of every human life."
He lauded the fifth-generation Wisconsin native serving his seventh term in
Congress as "an intellectual leader of the Republican Party" and a person who
will help lead the country "to widespread and shared prosperity."
Romney introduced his running
mate saying that his "integrity is unquestioned and his word is good."
A campaign aide told CNN that
Romney decided on Ryan on August 1. Ryan was believed to be on a short list of
possible running makes along with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, former Minnesota
Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Ohio Sen. Rob Portman. GOP sources told CNN on Friday that
the latter three had all been told that they wouldn't be getting the nod.
Paul Ryan, top GOP voice on fiscal matters
Romney, 65, initially flubbed
his big line, announcing, "Join me in welcoming the next president of the United
States, Paul Ryan!" He recovered moments later when Ryan took the stage, saying,
"Every now and then, I'm known to make a mistake. I did not make a mistake with
this guy, but I can tell you this: He's going to be the next vice president of
the United States."
Accolades poured in from
Republicans. In a statement, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell called
Ryan, the House budget chairman, "a confirmation that Gov. Romney is serious
about strengthening America's economic future, tackling the deficits and debt
that have skyrocketed under President Obama, and returning to a path to solvency
and security."
Republican National Committee
Chairman Reince Priebus said the new teammates "have the knowledge, expertise
and vision we need to get America working again and get our fiscal house in
order."
Pawlenty, in New Hampshire,
called Ryan "a respected leader and a bold thinker regarding the changes needed
to restore America."
But the Obama campaign reacted
to the announcement making familiar charges against the architect of GOP budget
plans and tried to tie him to the incumbent's predecessor, which is has
consistently blamed for the country's economic doldrums.
"In naming Congressman Paul
Ryan, Mitt Romney has chosen a leader of the House Republicans who shares his
commitment to the flawed theory that new budget-busting tax cuts for the
wealthy, while placing greater burdens on the middle class and seniors, will
somehow deliver a stronger economy," it said in a statement.
"The architect of the radical
Republican House budget, Ryan, like Romney, proposed an additional $250,000 tax
cut for millionaires, and deep cuts in education from Head Start to college aid.
His plan also would end Medicare as we know it by turning it into a voucher
system, shifting thousands of dollars in health care costs to seniors. As a
member of Congress, Ryan rubber-stamped the reckless Bush economic policies that
exploded our deficit and crashed our economy. Now the Romney-Ryan ticket would
take us back by repeating the same, catastrophic mistakes."
Democratic attacks on Ryan focus on changes to Medicare and
Medicaid
The bus tour will take Romney
through major media markets in four battleground states -- Virginia, North
Carolina, Florida and Ohio.
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell,
once a potential running mate, introduced Romney. House Majority Leader Eric
Cantor, a Richmond native, was set to join Romney at stops in the commonwealth
on Saturday.
Prior to Saturday's
announcement, many Republicans who spoke to CNN -- all of them granted anonymity
to speak freely without angering Romney officials in Boston -- wondered why
Romney would announce the pick on a weekend when millions of potential voters
are likely to be distracted by the Olympics, PGA golf, late-season baseball and
the box office release of the latest Bourne thriller.
Opinion: How Ryan could help Romney
