Over the weekend, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney finally ended all the speculation and picked Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan to join him on the ticket.
As the author of “The Path to Prosperity” (aka the Ryan budget) back in 2008, Ryan quickly made a name for himself in Washington. His plan, derided by some and lauded by others, called for drastic changes in entitlement spending – most notably a gigantic shift in Medicare which would introduce a voucher program for seniors. Ryan’s proposals generated controversy then, and continued to do so through midterm elections and beyond. Earlier this year, Ryan introduced a new version of his budget, adding the phrase “A Blueprint for American Renewal” to the plan.
In the coming weeks, you’re likely to hear a lot about Paul Ryan – positive from one side and negative from the other. You’ll hear that he’s a radical, with economic ideas that would devastate the poor and elderly. You’ll hear that he’s a rising star, a visionary, and the future of the Republican party. You’ll hear that he wants to end Medicare as we know it. You’ll hear that he’s bold, and brave enough to stand up for controversial ideas that he feels are right.
Catch my drift?
But before all of that gets into full swing, let’s look at the fluffier side of Paul Ryan – his Facebook info.
A “Paul Ryan VP” page has already been set up, and has garnered over 430,000 likes. But it’s his older page, the Paul Ryan as Congressman page that has plenty of info on the Vice Presidential nominee. Let’s take a look at the man who could be VP, according to his Facebook about page.
Activities: Playing with my kids, bowhunting, mountain biking, mountain climbing Colorado Fourteeners, skiing, and reading
Interests: economics, hunting, fishing, and – most of all – my family
Favorite Books: Mere Christianity & The Screwtape Letters – C.S. Lewis; Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand; The Road to Serfdom – F.A. Hayek; The Way the World Works – Jude Wanniski
Favorite Music: Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead, Metallica, Beethoven, Hank Williams, Jr., and more
Favorite Movies: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly; Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Favorite TV Shows: The Prisoner, Monty Python’s Flying Circus
He also lists a Teddy Roosevelt quote as his favorite quotation:
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
Both Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have already started in on the campaign on Facebook. Although President Obama utilized Facebook to win in 2008, this is probably the first campaign that could be called a true “social media campaign,” as both sides are paying a lot of attention to building a presence.
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