“47%” Was Bad for Romney; Ryan Has Been Deadly

In previous posts I've noted that the selection of Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney's VP running mate has not transformed the presidential race as contemplated by Romney and his Kool-Aid drinking cheering section of the GOP base.  In fact, some now believe that Ryan has been devastating to Romney's election prospects.  The New Republic looks at Ryan's toxicity.  Here are excerpts:

The conventional wisdom on Obama’s recent surge is that it’s due largely to Mitt Romney’s 47% disaster, and there’s clearly something to this. If nothing else, it’s given Team Obama grist for an absolutely devastating ad.

But it’s worth pointing out another dynamic that’s been overlooked here: The escalating disaster that is Paul Ryan. At the time of his selection, a number of pundits argued Ryan’s strategic benefits, suggesting he would boost Romney by energizing conservatives, or by allowing Romney to run as the candidate of big ideas, or that he would at least be the party’s best defender of the Medicare plan Romney was going to have to defend whether he wanted to or not. This seemed like a stretch at the time—after all, Ryan’s Medicare plan proved to be a massive liability the one time voters weighed in on it. But who could say for sure?

Well, fast forward a month-and-a-half and the numbers look pretty persuasive. This week the New York Times released a set of polls, conducted by Quinnipiac, assessing the state of the race in Ohio and Florida. The top-line numbers were jaw-dropping enough: Obama’s lead in Ohio grew from six to ten over the last month, and from three to nine in Florida. .  .  .  .  Obama up 19 over Romney on Medicare in Ohio, 15 in Florida, 13 in Virginia, and 17 nationally (his largest lead on the question all year). As the Post write-up puts it: “[T]he more voters focus on Medicare, the more likely they are to support the president’s bid for reelection.”


[T]he Dems have relentlessly attacked the Ryan plan, both at their convention and on the campaign trail, and the numbers have followed suit. It’s hard to believe Obama would have had the success he’s had here without Ryan himself on the ticket.

So, yes, the “47 percent” is a big deal. But the likely upshot is to prevent Romney from getting up off the mat, not to knock him down in the first place. It’s Ryan who deserves credit for that.

I find it truly ironic that the GOP base loves Ryan.  Meanwhile, the rest of the country seemingly has a growing view that is the exact opposite.  Should Romney/Ryan be defeated will the GOP base grasp this reality?  I doubted it.  A firm rejection of objective reality is now a mandatory behavior if one wishes to remain active n the Republican Party.