Enthusiastic fans are attempting to “draft” House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, to run for president.
Republicans unhappy with the current line-up of candidates have launched DraftRyanNow.com, a website that hosts a petition to recruit Ryan.
The website is a work in progress, with petition and donation pages not currently operational.
The National Journal reports that the website is operated by Denison Smith, a DC-area communications investor, and Nevada lawyer Charles Kozak.
Smith told the National Journal that Ryan stood apart from others because of his work to address the national debt. “Ryan is the only one of the whole group — other than Herman Cain — to speak to it,” Smith said.
Although Ryan is his first choice, Smith admitted that Cain is second. “They’d make a wonderful combination,” Smith said.
Last week former Vice President Dick Cheney said that he worships “the ground Paul Ryan walks on,” but that he didn’t want Ryan to run for president. A campaign for president would “ruin a good man who has a lot of work to do,” Cheney said.