Medicare, for instance, is a wildly popular federal program, especially among senior citizens who vote with notorious reliability. Spending cuts are popular in the abstract less so when made specific. Ryan’s deepest cuts would come from health care spending, in the form of major reductions to Medicaid and Medicare, which he would transform dramatically by replacing virtually unlimited federal payments for services with capped vouchers.Ĭonservatives, it noted, “thrill to this vision.” In touting Ryan last week, the Wall Street Journal editorial page wrote that his selection would offer voters “a generational choice about the role of government and whether America will once again become a growth economy or sink into interest-group dominated decline.” On a personal level, Ryan’s fans see an amiable, articulate and entirely sincere messenger for their principles.īut Democrats are also excited, it noted. Ryan’s political identity is built on his famous budget plans, whose most recent iteration would cut spending by $5.3 trillion more than President Obama’s last official budget proposal over the next decade. Running mates rarely shift the trajectory of a presidential campaign. As a result, the 2012 election is likely to shift from a narrow debate about the state of the economy to a much broader one about the size and role of government in America. Time magazine neatly encapsulated reaction, noting that, In choosing the 42-year-old conservative budget guru, Romney eschewed the “safe” choice many political insiders had expected, opting instead to “go bold.” He turned to a rising star whose fiscal vision dazzles the right while energizing Democrats who say they relish the chance to run against him. Numerous pundits point out that Ryan may cement the Republican base behind Romney - something he’s failed miserable to do until now - but could equally alienate independents and mobilize senior citizens and others threatened by his ruthless cost-cutting formula.