Almost immediately after Willard named Ayn Rand disciple Paul Ryan to the ticket, his campaign started backing off the Ryan plan.
“Gov. Romney applauds Paul Ryan for going in the right direction with his budget,” according to the talking points, “and as president he will be putting together his own plan for cutting the deficit and putting the budget on a path to balance.”
Who are they kidding here?
Willard has already said he thinks it would be "marvelous" if the Senate passed the Ryan budget -- in fact -- he's endorsed Ryan's Starve Granny to Give Romney A Tax Cut plan five times. But Team Romney knows that the specifics of the Ryan budget are electoral poison. So they're trying to have it both ways. Hence Ari's SRWT.
This is silly, of course. Dick Cheney wasn't wholly defined by gay marriage--and he certainly didn't author legislation to legalize it. Biden's Iraq plan was a footnote in his career. But Ryan and his plan are indelibly linked, and there's just no getting around that. Without the Ryan Budget, there'd be no Paul Ryan, Vice Presidential Candidate.
Repeatedly praising his budget then picking Ryan as your running mate -- then saying you don't like his plan is like passing universal health care and then saying you oppose it.
Etch-a-sketch, yet again.
