Bedford Pols Like Ryan Pick, for Different Reasons [Poll]

Republican Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney's selection of Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate pleased both Republicans and Democrats in Bedford—but for very different reasons.

"I'm thrilled because Romney all but solidified his defeat with this pick," said Bruce Yablon, chairman of the Bedford Democratic Committee, who added that if there were any Democrats leaning toward voting for Romney in the event he selected a more moderate VP candidate, he believed they would not vote for him now.

Yablon said Ryan—a "Tea Party darling"—had a conservative voting record and did little to expand Romney's appeal. For example, Yablon said, Ryan had voted for limiting access to abortion and birth control and turning Medicare it into a "voucher program." Yablon also pointed out that Ryan was a career politician, having worked in government since his college graduation from Miami University of Ohio, where he studied economics.

"Romney often criticizes President Obama as having little 'real world' work experience," Yablon said. "Yet Congressman Ryan is the poster child of a detatched, disconnected political insider."

Ryan, 42, is in his seventh term in Congress representing Wisconsin’s First Congressional District. He’s also a chairman of the House Budget Committee, and last year he proposed a budget called “Roadmap for America’s Future,” which called for eliminating the federal deficit over an almost-50-year period.

Democrats criticized his plans, and said they focused more on cuts to spending for social programs like Social Security, and less on tax cuts for the wealthy.

Chris Burdick, a Bedford town board member and a Democrat also said Ryan was a "darling of the fringes of the Tea Party," and his budget plan would be the end of Medicare and Social Security with "a death by a thousand cuts."

"The selection of Paul Ryan is further evidence that the most radical elements of the Republican party now are calling the shots, setting the agenda and setting Romney's direction," Burdick said. "The country is moderate.  As it recognizes the radical direction which the Romney-Ryan ticket proposes, it will reject it."

Republican Supervisor Lee Roberts liked Ryan as Romney's pick and said he added excitement to the ticket.

"This election is all about the economy and whether we can get our huge national deficit under control and not saddle our children with a mortgaged future," she said. "I think it is disingenuous to paint him as a destroyer of Medicare—Obama's health care plan anticipates cuts in Medicare too. I am all for tightening the loopholes that make our tax structure a sieve."

Roberts also added that although she believed Ryan brought intelligence and economic savvy to the ticket, he was "a little" too conservative for her palate and she would have preferred a female candidate.

Bedford GOP Chairman Don Scott also liked Romney's choice and said he hoped it would center the debate on the "big issues."

"The discussion should now center on who has the best vision and the best plan for a sustainable, growth-based economy and for the daunting fiscal problems we face," said Scott. "The other side was going to be attacking Ryan whether or not he was on the ticket. It's better that he is there on the campaign trail to make the case to the American people for himself."

Another member of the Bedford GOP, Luke Vander Linden, agreed that by choosing Ryan, Romney ensured that his political campaigning would include discussion around specific proposals and ideas instead of "empty promises and slogans."

"Which will be a a great contrast to the campaign being run by the current occupant of the White House," he said.

"Of course the challenge will be overcoming the shameful misrepresentations and distortions of their [the Romney/Ryan ticket] plans by the media and especially their opponents who so far have signaled they would rather use scare tactics and personal attacks than have an honest discussion about the future of our country," Vander Linden added.

Sean Patrick Maloney, Democratic for 18th Congressional district, took Romney's announcement as an opportunity to engage his opponent, Congresswoman Nan Hayworth (R-Bedford), the incumbent in November's election.

Maloney said over the weekend that Paul Ryan has become nationally known by proposing a budget that gives new tax breaks to America's wealthiest and to companies that outsource jobs.

“Romney, Ryan, and Hayworth are trying to end Medicare and pass the costs on to seniors—all to pay for huge new tax giveaways for millionaires like themselves,” said Maloney. “Now that Paul Ryan has been added to the ticket, Nan Hayworth’s Tea Party ideology has officially taken over the Republican Party.”

For her part, Hayworth told the Times-Record: "Paul Ryan is a leader with vision and conviction who knows how to put the federal government's fiscal house in order."