ran 3.1 miles
Romney and Ryan it is. I was taken aback at first but this is the decision that was made and that reality makes it easier to rationalize all the different things this means. I knew Ryan was on the Veep short-list but he struck me as a man who would energize the Conservative base. The thing is the Conservative base doesn't need any energizing. I think most Conservatives would vote for a plank of wood running against Barack Obama. So why Ryan?
It is common knowledge that approximately 45%-47% of Americans on each side of the aisle know exactly who they are going to vote for and they cannot be dissuaded. I am one of them. That leaves 6%-10% who are undecided and they are the individuals who are going to decide this election. So, again, why Ryan?
As a side note, this small fraction of individuals who comprise the undecided votes of America are a mystery to me. How someone can be on the fence about two such extreme directions in government and the future of America is incomprehensible to me. It's like arriving at the most important fork in the road of your nation's modern history and long-term future and genuinely being baffled as to whether you should turn left or right. Indecision like this is usually left to children who can't decide whether they want blue shoe laces or red shoe laces.
Why Ryan? The first thing that comes to mind is Florida and Rubio. Florida is a critical state to win and Rubio would have energized Florida the same way Ryan will energize Wisconsin. Perhaps Romney is confident in Florida---and Wisconsin is the controversial state Scott Walker governs and has recently succeeded in overcoming a recall election fueled by the heavy union presence in the state. Wisconsin is about as divided as a state can be, but Florida still seems more critical to win.
These next three months will unravel and what will be will be. I'm a big fan of Paul Ryan, always have been, but my only concern is that he simply makes way too much sense and employs far too much rational logic to the problems America faces to appeal to the short-term memory and low attention span of the average voter, which is a really big slice of the demographic pie. His ideas are just too realistic for our federal government.
That being said, as it sinks in I am getting excited about this guy. As I stated above, I assumed Romney would have picked someone who would persuade some of the undecided fence hoppers to join his side. Instead, he chose one of the most fundamentally fiscal conservatives in Congress. It was a bold decision and I like the idea of not settling for a running mate strictly based on his or her ability to finagle a few extra blocks of voting support from people who are too indecisive to pick what pair of socks they want to put on their feet each day. America's bigger picture is much larger than these decision-challenged individuals who keep leaving every presidential poll within its margin of error with their 6%-10% of uncertainty.
2,080 miles from Lafayette, LA to Washington D.C. and back + 147.2
Here is what happened one year ago on Day348.
