The debt deal has only strengthened the case for a 2012 Paul Ryan presidential candidacy

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Jeff Anderson has an original take today on why Paul Ryan should enter the 2012 presidential race.

He points out that the 2012 presidential field provided very little public direction during the debt deal. They had very little to offer, seemed distant, even unserious about it. Anderson says:

Quite the opposite can be said of House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan. He has now shown himself to be the most persuasive and reliable Republican leader on Obamacare, the budget, and the debt ceiling alike. Moreover, Ryan is the only Republican who has (repeatedly) challenged Obama and come out on top.

He follows this with two important observations that haven't gotten enough attention:

• Ryan is Obama's biggest threat. Bachmann and Romney and the others are not the people Obama fears. "That distinction belongs to Ryan. At last year’s GOP House Issues Conference, Ryan burst onto the national stage by challenging Obama’s facts on deficit spending, leaving the president stammering and quite eager to move on to another questioner. At the 'health summit,' Ryan stole the show with a blistering critique of Obamacare, to which Obama offered no coherent response. Two months ago, Ryan pointedly told Obama, 'Mr. President, the demagoguery only stops if the leaders stop it,' adding, 'Leadership should come from the top.' His fellow Republicans gave him a standing ovation — and this was inside the White House."

• "Ryan can unite the GOP’s tea-party and establishment wings. Despite her merits, Bachmann represents a fringe subset of the Tea Party as one of only nine House Republicans who opposed raising the debt ceiling even in connection with 'Cut, Cap, and Balance.' Conversely, Romney represents the complacent part of the establishment that doesn’t give the impression that the repeal of Obamacare is really all that important. Meanwhile, Ryan represents the majority of Republicans — whether tea-party sympathizers or not — who sensibly reject both of these poles."

Ryan has managed to work well with the leadership after more than a decade on the Hill without being cast as a RINO by the tea party wings of the conservative movement. And yet he's trusted by those who are a bit wary of the tea party's influence. On this front, he is the most Reaganesque of the candidates: the one who holds the most potential for uniting the various groups across conservatism's spectrum.

Comments

[Tom]

"They had very little to offer, seemed distant, even unserious about it."

Hmmm... perhaps you're not looking hard enough?

Ron Paul suggested that the Fed cancel its government bonds, thereby giving ~$2trillion breathing room in order to balance the books over the medium term.

It is interesting that this site continuously chooses to omit any coverage of Dr Paul, and seems to only ever champion Paul Ryan - despite the fact he isn't even running.