Mitt Romney appears to have picked Paul Ryan as his running mate over
the objections of top political advisors, offering a glimpse at the
leadership style of the Republican nominee in the most important
decision of his campaign.
Romney's aides have stressed publicly in
the 24 hours since Romney electrified conservatives with his choice
that the pick was the governor's alone. They have been less forthcoming
on the flip side: That much of his staff opposed the choice for the same
reason that many pundits considered it unlikely — that Ryan's
appealingly wonky public image and a personality Romney finds copasetic
will matter far less than two different budget plans whose details the
campaign now effectively owns.
"Everybody was against [Ryan] to
start with only Romney for," said one top Republican, who is skeptical
of the choice and griped that Romney's top advisors have "been giving
Mitt everything he wanted in this campaign."
Romney, his advisor
Beth Myers told reporters Saturday, met with a team of about a
half-dozen key campaign advisors several times on the issue, and spoke
to a wide circle of trusted allies; it's not unusual that there would be
differences, or that the instinct of many would be to do no harm, and
to keep the campaign focused on the economy and on Barack Obama.
Romney's decision to roll the dice himself reflects a different side
than often seen of the cautious candidate: A desire to surround himself
with people he genuinely respects, and a confidence in his own political
judgement.
Ryan spent Sunday on the campaign trail with Romney,
helping the candidate draw some of the largest and most enthusiastic
crowds of the presidential cycle. He also passed some early tests with
flying colors, proving an engaging and comfortable figure under the
white hot national spotlight. A media that cast doubts on the basic
qualifications of the last Republican running mate, the previously
obscure Sarah Palin, to step into the office of the presidency has
evinced no such doubts about the Wisconsin congressman, a familiar
figure in Georgetown and New York.
Some of the doubters, though,
also see warning signals. Congressional candidates in difficult
districts and Florida Republicans are not eager to debate Ryan's
attachment to converting Medicare into a system of vouchers for workers
under 55. The fact that Ryan's push to cut capital gains taxes, which
Romney opposes, would reduce the presidential nominees own taxes to
nothing has also gotten unwelcome attention.
Another Republican in
conversation with the campaign — though not a member of the inner
circle of Romney advisers — said the early skeptics tended to be the
political professionals, including consultants Stuart Stevens and Russ
Schriefer, and pollster Neil Newhouse, while Myers, foreign policy
advisor Dan Senor, and ultimately Romney himself favored Ryan. (Those
involved declined to shed light on the campaign's most confidential
conversations; and others, including Myers, disputed that
characterization; she said Saturday she kept her opinion to herself.)
The
debate inside the campaign, sources and other media reports said, in
fact took into account many of the same concerns about Ryan that were
aired publicly.
"Many close aides had been lobbying for the
low-risk, nonobjectionable Pawlenty, arguing that the two could run as
outsiders taking on Washington," Politico noted Sunday.
And
Romney's own aides, in conversations with reporters over the last day,
have also made clear that the candidate himself, not his advisors, drove
the Ryan choice, something they have put in the context of Romney's
forceful leadership.
"He made his decision to select Congressman Ryan," advisor Myers said. "It was his decision alone."
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