On Monday’s “Special Report” on Fox News Channel, columnist and FNC regular Charles Krauthammer said that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney‘s choice of Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate carries risks, but also makes “this election about Obama’s hyper-liberalism.”
“Well, I think the Ryan pick is high-ceiling and high-trough,” Krauthammer said. “If they, the Democrats, succeed in defining him — and you saw what was most impressive in the polls you showed about Ryan, is almost half of Americans have no opinion. So this is a tabula rasa that the two sides are going to try to paint very quickly. And if the Democrats succeed in painting him as a guy who, ya know, who’ll throw your grandma in the snow and then he’ll toss her over a cliff, they’re going to lose, particularly, states like Iowa or Florida, which are heavily seniors. And that loses the election. I think these charges can be easily refuted, if — assuming that — they are able to counter the charges on Medicare.”
Where Ryan’s candidacy pays dividends, Krauthammer said, is in setting a stark contrast with President Barack Obama. He also said that the Democrats will have a difficult time framing Ryan as an extremist.
“Ryan is a huge plus,” he continued. “No. 1: He makes it a more ideological election. In a center-right country, as we saw in 2010, you make this election about Obama’s hyper-liberalism, the Democrats are shellacked. Secondly: He changes the subject to ideas and plans, which makes Obama have to discuss his record — which is a bad one — and the plans he has for a second term, which are none. Essentially, ‘I’ll raise four points in taxes on 2 percent of the population.’ And that’s supposed to be a cure for our structural problems? It’s a joke. And lastly, the idea that he is an extremist and they are going to scare people with him — the guy looks like a Boy Scout, like a choirboy. It’s simply not going to work. And I think he brings youth and energy, which is something Obama had in 2008 that he has entirely spent in these four years.”
On Saturday, Krauthammer declared that because of Romney’s choice, change is now on the side of the Republicans.
