On Saturday, Mitt Romney announced his choice of running mate, Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan.  Ryan is one of the bright lights of the current conservative movement, and brings Romney’s campaign some street cred with people who sympathize with the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party.  He’s an economics and budget wonk, a sixteenth level blackbelt in debating and arguing, and is about as clean cut and apple pie as they come.

Republicans were audibly swooning about 18 seconds after the announcement, which was precisely 37 seconds faster than the first attack ad being issued by the Democrats.  Apparently, depending on who you ask, Ryan is either the second coming of Ronaldus Maximus or the embodiment of all that is evil and hateful in humanity.

My response to the announcement and ensuing orgy of hopes, dreams, and doom?  Meh.

Look, I like what Congressman Ryan has said and done so far.  I respect the fact that he seems to be able to effectively refute the administration’s propaganda with facts instead of emotions and rhetoric.  He has experience in the real world, but isn’t a neophyte in government. He certainly wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but neither was he taught to speak so that he could recite The Internationale to his mother’s commie friends.  In short, he seems to be a good man who I agree with on quite a few things.  If he were running for president, I would certainly consider voting for him.

But he’s not running for president.  He’s the second name on the ticket, and no matter how much of a partner Mr. Romney makes him in his administration, assuming he wins the election, he will just be an advisor to a man who displays the libertarian leanings of my 11 year old labrador retriever.  Maybe he’ll be a moderating influence on Romney’s instincts to get along with the Democrats at all costs, and maybe he’ll be shut away in a nice office waiting for the next state funeral to happen so he’ll have something to do.  At this point, no-one can tell.

Unless Romney changes his tune and starts articulating plans to start dismantling not only the damage done by the Obama administration but also by the past few decades in a rather drastic fashion, he could name zombie Reagan as his running mate and not win the election.  He has to prove that he’s more than Diet Obama, and no person on his ticket or in his projected cabinet is going to change that.