The New York Times reports on Paul Ryan's political ambitions, or the apparent lack thereof:Representative Paul D. Ryan was deep into an explanation of his deficit reduction plan, which sits at the heart of a contentious debate between Republicans and President Obama, when he called on a constituent raising her hand in the front row of a town meeting here.
“We need a viable Republican candidate for president,” pleaded the woman, Nancy Champion, a retired schoolteacher. “Will you run against him?”
Mr. Ryan grinned, blushed and promptly tried to change the subject, telling his audience: “She’s not related to me. She wouldn’t say that if she was.” But no, he added, he does not intend to join the Republican nominating contest and try to run against Mr. Obama.
Personally, I would love to see Ryan enter the presidential race, or really, any race for higher office. His "Plan for Prosperity" is stunningly unpopular; according to the most recent Washington Post/ABC News poll, 65 percent of Americans oppose the core idea behind Ryan's plan -- Medicare vouchers -- and if they're told that the cost of private insurance for seniors is projected to outpace the value of the vouchers, that opposition jumps to more than 80 percent of Americans.
Between this and a well-financed opposition, Ryan would be crushed in a national election, and his inevitable electoral repudiation would, with any luck, shake the Beltway of its ridiculous belief in the popularity "market solutions" and draconian budget cuts.
