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Saturday, August 11, 2012

2012 Mitt Romney Introduces Paul Ryan as "The Next President of the United States"

Posted by Paul Constant on Sat, Aug 11, 2012 at 9:04 AM

Mitt Romney fucked up his introduction of Paul Ryan this morning, when he told the audience to join him in welcoming "the next President of the United States—Paul Ryan!" Here's video of that introduction and Ryan's whole speech:

(If you don't have video where you are, the full text of the speech is here.)

The one thing that struck me about this speech—besides Ryan's precise cowlick and his aw-shucks demeanor, which is inaurguably more interesting than Romney—is that Ryan doesn't go into his budget at all. In fact, BuzzFeed published the Romney talking points memo, and here's the first question on the FAQ:

1) Does this mean Mitt Romney is adopting the Paul Ryan plan?

· Gov. Romney applauds Paul Ryan for going in the right direction with his budget, and as president he will be putting together his own plan for cutting the deficit and putting the budget on a path to balance.

So does this mean both candidates will be running against their main achievements in public office—Romney against Romneycare and Ryan against the Ryan Budget? That's certainly something we've never seen before. But the teabaggy base is incredibly excited. Overnight, we got an e-mail from the Tea Party Express calling Ryan a "Strong Tea Party Choice for Vice-President."

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Comments (19) RSS

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Oh, that is a delicious gaff. Announcing his VP pick gives Rmoney a chance to redirect the political conversation for a while, and he completely fumbles it. What a dumbass. This fumble will be repeated on every newscast, and remind everyone what a moron Rmoney is. Well done.

Posted by Reverse Polarity on August 11, 2012 at 9:17 AM

Here's another official talking point from Romney:

“The ticket is no different that [sic] Obama and Biden."

Granted, there is a context for this, but even without the typo it's a stupid way to phrase things.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/08/11/of…

Posted by seatackled on August 11, 2012 at 9:22 AM

That was better than coffee.

Posted by Grant Brissey, Emeritus

on August 11, 2012 at 9:22 AM

And I hear they used Air Force One music instead of Jenna Jameson music for their intro.

I wonder if they got permission to use it.

Posted by seatackled on August 11, 2012 at 9:23 AM

I was hoping it would be Ryan! Pretty sure he'll put off independents.

Posted by Volo on August 11, 2012 at 9:25 AM

Good catch, @2. I glossed right over that.

Posted by Paul Constant

on August 11, 2012 at 9:26 AM

@6

Well, to be fair, there are going to be many, many unforced errors and red flags to go through.

Posted by seatackled on August 11, 2012 at 9:43 AM

Here's Joe Biden's Budget:

Fifth of Scotch
2 twelve packs of Bud
Case of Gin

Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe

on August 11, 2012 at 9:54 AM

I think this means that Romney is adopting Ryan. He looks like he's 12, wearing his father's too big suit.

Posted by catballou on August 11, 2012 at 9:57 AM

I hear he starred in a movie called "Shaving Ryan's Privates".

Posted by Tacoma Traveler on August 11, 2012 at 10:03 AM

@9: The fact that a candidate on a major party's presidential ticket was born in the same decade as me is kind of giving me a panic attack. And the fact that Ryan looks like a 12-year-old in his suit—plus that he was only born 29 days into the 70s—is all that's keeping me vertical right now.

Posted by Paul Constant

on August 11, 2012 at 11:37 AM

Joe is going to kick this kid's ass during the VP debate.

Posted by Cato the Younger Younger on August 11, 2012 at 11:59 AM

@11,

Paul, this video explains everything about Ryan's youthful looks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4BJtGatu…

Posted by Tacoma Traveler on August 11, 2012 at 12:20 PM

Obama nearly did the same next-president fumble in introducing Biden.

Posted by Phoebe in Wallingford on August 11, 2012 at 12:24 PM

Well, if Bush were honest that's how he would have introduced Cheney.

Posted by rob!

on August 11, 2012 at 12:30 PM

Well! I feel much better now that I've watched the video. I am not impressed. I expected more out of Paul Ryan. He does look way too young. He looks like a *kid*, a snotty kid, very smart and confident but full of himself - the worst kind - the nastiest fraternity stereotype. If he's going to help himself, he's going to have to get rid of that head bobbing (really has to go, Paul!), made worse by the way he draws his lips in while doing it. He also has to quit wiping his forehead every two minutes. It makes him look sweaty.

Bottom line, and I say this sincerely: I would not have this kid be my representative on international negotiations with enemies and allies. He looks like he'd be way over his head. I'm starting to think one of those old white men that were considered would have been better. In this sence, Paul Ryan is Mitt Romney's John Edwards. I always had a bad feeling about John Edwards. That feeling is not as strong with Ryan, but it's there. In all sincerity, I think Palin gave a much, much better introductory speech than Paul Ryan. I was terrified when Palin first came out and the McCain campaign was cruising to the top, and look how that ended up.

And yes, big dumb mistake by Romney! How do you do that on the biggest stage, one of your key moments of your campaign? I'm starting wonder if this guy even has the competence to be president. And I think coming back to correct himself just made the mess bigger. I can forgive small, honest errors, but this was a big one. Taken in context of his strap-the-dog-to-the-roof history, I'm starting to think Cautious Mitt is a little lacking in judgment.

Finally, I kept scanning the redneck-burnt Republican hot dog crowd for a single minority - just one! - and finally found him standing right behind Paul Ryan, the only black person in the bunch, carefully placed in front of the camera. That audience is such a cliche it's almost a joke.

More...

Posted by floater on August 11, 2012 at 12:34 PM

Good one, Rob!

Posted by floater on August 11, 2012 at 12:35 PM

@16

Taken in context of his strap-the-dog-to-the-roof history, I'm starting to think Cautious Mitt is a little lacking in judgment.

Don't forget the time when he held down a classmate and cut off his hair because ... it just wasn't right. That's more than just a "little" lacking.

Posted by Helenka (also a Canuck) on August 11, 2012 at 4:42 PM