The New York Times has another positive write up of Paul Ryan out today, including this nugget:
As Mr. Ryan climbed into the front seat of a Chevy Suburban to ride to his next stop, he paused for a moment when asked if the Republican position was being heard as loudly as the Democratic one. He said all Republicans shared a responsibility for explaining solutions to the nation’s debt burdens, but he conceded that it was more challenging for his party to break through.
“We don’t have the presidential candidates right now,” Mr. Ryan said. “The field hasn’t materialized yet, so we’re out there doing it ourselves.”
But one possible 2012er Ryan has talked up in the past is Mitch Daniels. The Weekly Standard‘s John McCormack reported last July:
Ryan was willing to talk up the presidential prospects of another Republican: Indiana governor Mitch Daniels. “He would be a great president,” said Ryan. “He looks like your accountant, but that’s not so bad maybe.” In Ryan’s estimation, Daniels is the only potential GOP presidential candidate at the moment who really gets the ideas outlined in his Road Map and is willing to fight for them. “Are there [other] people who right now know these issues, have the principles, have the courage of their convictions, and are willing and able to defend them? Nobody comes to my mind,” Ryan said. But he added that “any one of these guys” interested in running for president could get up to speed on the Road Map.
Remember, while Ryan has repeatedly said he would not run for president in 2012, he has left open the possibility he would accept a VP nod.
Could there be a Daniels-Ryan ticket in 2012? You heard it here first. Ok, second.
