Mitt Romney to Name Paul Ryan as VP Running Mate

Sources say Mitt Romney is set to select 42-year-old Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his Republican running mate in the 2012 election versus President Barack Obama.

Romney’s camp announced Friday that his sidekick would be named at 9 a.m. Saturday in Norfolk, Virginia. And NBC tweeted minutes ago that the pick is Ryan.

Ryan is a risky pick for Romney, with Democrats salivating over the chance to skewer his budget plan — he’s chairman of the House Budget Committee — which slashes government spending and privatizes Social Security and Medicare. But Ryan’s also a young and smart rising star whose choice will be cheered by conservatives, reports HuffPo:

Conservatives believe Ryan is one of the brightest, best young faces and minds who can cheerfully articulate a case for limited government while simultaneously arguing that a less expansive bureaucracy and a revamped entitlement system is the best way to preserve government aid and benefits for the poor, indigent and elderly.

Heavy.com Facebook fan Beth Meyers of Charlottesville, Virginia, summed up Mitt’s pick like this:

He’s going for the young conservative hipster and his wise daddy type campaign. I can dig that.

But other Heavy fans were wary, including Daniel Yanes who captioned the photo posted — which depicts Mitt grinning while grabbing Paul’s shoulders — like this:

They think we our going to help the middle class HAHAHAHA!!!

On Thursday this week Romney’s website published a short post titled “Rep. Paul Ryan: We Cannot Encourage No Strings Attached Dependency.” It quotes the congressman:

“Look, this welfare reform—it worked. It reduced child poverty. It moved people into higher income levels into work. So of all times, when we have 23 million people who are looking for work and can’t find a job, who stopped and just gave up, or work in temp jobs, it is all that much more important that we make sure we get people transitioned into job training and back into jobs, and not encourage people to just have no strings attached dependency.”

For liberals such talk makes Paul a ripe target. They’ve even put up attack billboards on his home turf in Wisconsin:

Here’s Ryan’s keynote address at the George W. Bush Presidential Center’s “Tax Policies for 4% Growth” conference:

And here’s David Pakman describing Ryan’s budget as pro-rich, anti-poor, and scary for America:

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