As Republicans continue to swoon at the thought of a Ryan candidacy, Ed Kilgore wonders what the hell they're thinking:
Democrats (especially those in Congress) have been plotting for months to make Paul Ryan’s budget proposal, and particularly its radical treatment of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, the centerpiece of their 2012 campaign. After all, the proposal drew the support of nearly every Republican in Congress, despite abundant public opinion research (and at least one special election) showing the potential for a strong public backlash against its specific provisions. A Ryan candidacy, in other words, would rigidly align the GOP with its least popular ideas at the very moment that all Democrats, from the president to the lowliest House candidate, are desperate to make this a “comparative” election instead of a temperature reading on life in the Obama era. So why would prominent Republicans be interested in making Democrats so very happy?
Because Bill Kristol is, in fact, not that smart. Steve Benen lambastes Ryan's most recent pronouncements on healthcare. Larison thinks Ryan is an unqualified creature of the elites:
Paul Ryan is being avidly promoted by a number of elite pundits and journalists, and the main reason we are even talking about him as a possible presidential candidate is that some party and movement elites are unhappy with the current field of candidates. Criticism of Ryan’s qualifications for the Presidency is a reaction to having a candidate foisted on us by said elites. Nothing could be more artificial than the “draft Ryan” push being encouraged by some party insiders, and nothing would please many elite conservative pundits more than a Paul Ryan presidential bid.
(Screenshot from the homepage of DraftRyanNow.com)
The Dish 