Writing in the LA Times today, Jonah Goldberg is unhappy that none of the big-name GOP presidential candidates are full-throated defenders of Paul Ryan’s budget plan:
So the question many are asking is, should Ryan ride to the rescue? If the election is going to be a referendum on his plan, maybe the one guy who can sell it should get in the race. On Monday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor called for Ryan to get in the race, saying, “Paul’s about real leadership.”
If Ryan ran, he would probably drive the other candidates further away from his own plan while forcing them to come up with serious alternatives of their own. If he got the nomination, many think he would clean Obama’s clock in the debates.
It’s a lot to ask. He has three young kids and would have to get organized and funded from a cold start for a long-shot run. But politics is about moments, and this one is calling him. Unless someone suddenly rises to the challenge, the cries of “Help us, Paul Ryan, you’re our only hope!” will only get louder.
Let me get this straight. The Ryan plan is wildly unpopular and is ripping the Republican Party apart. In fact, it’s so unpopular that even Newt Gingrich won’t endorse it. So the answer is for Ryan to run because somehow the great man himself will make gutting Medicare into a national movement. And Ryan’s vision of vouchers for all, tax cuts for the rich, and reducing defense and domestic spending to 3% of GDP is so compelling that President Obama will be like putty in his hands when debate time rolls around. Hell, maybe Obama will be so scared he’ll simply refuse to debate at all.
Well, I’m all for it. I mean, if Michele Bachmann were to run and lose, there’s always the chance that the true believers would just chalk it up to inexperience or bad organization or backstabbing or some kind of campaign meltdown (there’s bound to be one). But if Ryan runs and loses, maybe Republicans really would have to face up to reality. Maybe Paul Ryan really is our only hope.
