Mark this as one of the few times when I completely agree with Newt Gingrich:
Newt Gingrich, a former House speaker exploring a bid for the Republican presidential nomination, said proposing a major overhaul of entitlement programs was not as politically fraught as it might have been a decade ago. But he said Republicans must be vigilant in defending their actions and mindful that Democrats were poised to attack.
“I think it is a dangerous political exercise,” Mr. Gingrich said in an interview Monday. “This is not something that Republicans can afford to handle lightly.”
I'm not sure how Republicans can handle it at all; in the real world -- outside of the Tea Party bubble -- Americans are pretty enthusiastic about Medicare and Medicaid, the main targets of Paul Ryan's budget proposal. The public isn't particularly hot on dismantling these programs, and while I expect Republican presidential candidates to play to the right, I can't imagine that any would endorse something as radical as Ryan's plan.
That said, I'm not sure how this shakes out in a world where the GOP base has adopted tactical radicalism as its operating principle. In all likelihood, grassroots Republicans will adopt the "The Path to Prosperity" as their blueprint for an ideal budget and demand a commitment to its goals as a matter of course. This leaves Romney, Pawlenty and the rest in a tight position; do they endorse a toxic budget plan, or do they incur the wrath of the GOP base?
This is a little banal, but my guess is that Romney will endorse the plan, as he needs the credibility, but Pawlenty or Huckabee might get away with staying mum, as they don't need to prove their conservative bona fides. In any case, this will be interesting to watch (and it almost goes without saying that an endorsement of Ryan's plan will be miserable for GOP chances in the general election).