Romney Chooses Rep. Paul Ryan as Running Mate

Rep. Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney campaign together in March in Appleton, Wisc. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
Updated 11:58 a.m.

Mitt Romney has selected Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his vice presidential running mate. He formally rolled out the new ticket Saturday morning during a visit to the U.S.S. Wisconsin battleship in Norfolk, Va., on the start of a four-day bus tour through swing states including North Carolina, Florida and Ohio.

You can watch the entire event here.
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Ryan, 42, who is head of the House Budget Committee, is known for his commitment to conservative financial ideology and is seen as an up-and-comer in the Republican party.

He is the author of the so-called Ryan budget, which dramatically overhauls Medicare and Social Security, a spending blueprint that several times has passed the House and drawn the ire of President Obama on the campaign trail.

The president’s re-election team put out an attack video focused on the budget plan soon after Ryan and Romney appeared together on stage.

I am proud to announce @paulryanvp as my VP.Stand with us today.mi.tt/Romney-Ryan #RomneyRyan2012

— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) August 11, 2012

Team Romney is calling the duo “America’s Comeback Team,” and in a press release noted that on Capitol Hill Ryan, in his seventh term, “has worked tirelessly leading the effort to reign in federal spending and increase accountability to taxpayers.”

The release noted Ryan was raised in Wisconsin by a stay-at-home mom, and outlined Ryan’s current family biography:

• In April 2000, Ryan proposed to Janna Little, a native Oklahoman, at one of his favorite fishing spots, Big St. Germain Lake in Wisconsin. Later that year, the two were married in Oklahoma City.
• The Ryans reside in Janesville with their three children, Liza, Charlie and Sam. The family are parishioners at St. John Vianney Catholic Church.

The release also mentioned that Ryan is “an avid outdoorsman and is a member is of his local archery association, the Janesville Bowmen.”

On Friday evening, Romney called the prospective candidates he had not chosen to inform them of his decision. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty confirmed he would not be traveling to Virginia on Saturday, instead campaigning for the former governor of Massachusetts at events in New Hampshire. Another vetted candidate, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, was scheduled to attend a cancer fundraising event in his home state.

On Friday’s NewsHour, Ruth Marcus and Michael Gerson speculated about Romney’s veep choice.

Gerson thought Romney might choose Ryan, who he described as “the intellectual leader of his party,” and not a “status quo choice.”

“That [Romney]’s behind in the polls now maybe a little bit doesn’t suggest sort of throwing caution to the wind and picking somebody like a Paul Ryan, who I think would be very interesting, would bring a lot of energy and intelligence and substance to the debate,” said Marcus.

“But [that] would be, from the Democrats’ point of view, like the second coming of Sarah Palin,” in that Paul might attract the same level of negative attention from liberals, she said.

Ryan will join Romney in Florida again in a few weeks when the Republican National Convention convenes in Tampa Aug. 27.

*Judy Woodruff interviewed Rep. Paul Ryan about the federal budget on the NewsHour in April 2011.

*For more coverage, visit the NewsHour politics page