Ryan brings Tea Party to ticket

Article by: MICHAEL D. SHEAR , N ew York Times
Updated: August 12, 2012 - 7:42 PM

The conservative movement now feels it has a choice seat at the table.

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For two years, Tea Party lawmakers in the House have been the stubborn barbarians at the gate, strong-arming their often reluctant Republican colleagues by refusing to compromise on spending, taxes, debt or social policy.

But Paul Ryan's ascendancy to the No. 2 spot on the Republican ticket is a signal event for a movement that counts him as one of their own. If Mitt Romney wins in November, a Tea Party favorite will be a heartbeat from the Oval Office.

More than that, Ryan is now unquestionably the face of the Tea Party caucus in Washington, and his success is certain to embolden House lawmakers whose proudly unyielding approach to governance has contributed to legislative gridlock.

Once considered a fringe of the conservative coalition, Tea Party lawmakers are now indisputably at the core of the modern Republican Party.

Election 'game changer'

"Governor Romney's selection of Congressman Paul Ryan is an excellent choice and a game changer for the presidential election," Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said in a statement. "It's now a campaign of ideas on how best to get this economy moving again, balance the budget and restore America."

He added: "My guess is that Barack Obama has a sick feeling in his stomach today."

For Romney, the decision to pick Ryan has quickly helped to validate him in the eyes of skeptical Tea Party members in the House. Many in the movement had worried that a President Romney would hardly be an ally for their legislative goals. Choosing Ryan eases those concerns even as it marks a shift in the movement's balance of power.

"Selecting someone like Paul Ryan, who is so popular with Tea Party activists, proves that Mitt Romney is committed to addressing the economic issues that have been troubling our nation for the last four years," Amy Kremer, the chairwoman of the Tea Party Express, the movement's largest political action committee, said in a statement.

Ryan, in his speech accepting the role of Romney's running mate, touted his ability to reach across the aisle to find solutions that are workable to members of both parties. "I have worked closely with Republicans as well as Democrats to advance an agenda of economic growth, fiscal discipline and job creation," Ryan said.

But his success may help to harden the political impasse in Washington between Democrats and Republicans, and between the House and the Senate. A huge post-election debate is looming over the fate of the Bush-era tax cuts and entitlement spending, and Ryan has been urging Tea Party members to stand firm.

Less reason to compromise

If Republicans win the White House in the fall but fail to take the Senate from Democrats, Tea Party members in the House may see even less reason to compromise on their drive to make the federal government smaller.

Within the Tea Party caucus, Ryan is not the most absolutist. He voted for the TARP bailout of big banks near the end of George W. Bush's presidency. And he voted for the bailout of the auto industry.

Ryan is an insider-type politician who works from within the system, not against it.

But as chairman of the House Budget Committee, Ryan has resisted pressure from some in his party's leadership to compromise with Obama's administration in the interests of a grand bargain that many Tea Party members see as selling out.

Now, Ryan's place on the national ticket testifies to the staying power of the Tea Party ideology and provides a single person around which the movement can coalesce.

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