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A lot has been said, by me among others, about Paul Ryan’s popularity among grassroots-activist and chattering-class movement conservatives, and it’s all true. But as Nick Confessore explains in abundant detail at the New York Times, his maximum fans are the tiny but powerful class of right-wing funders, whom he has worked as assiduously as anyone in politics:
When Mr. Romney announced that Mr. Ryan would be his running mate, his campaign emphasized the congressman’s detailed knowledge of the federal budget and his chemistry with Mr. Romney. Less well-known are Mr. Ryan’s close ties to the donors and activists who have channeled Tea Party anger into a $400 million political machine, financed by a network of conservative and libertarian donors that now rivals, and occasionally challenges, the Republican establishment behind Mr. Romney.
Mr. Ryan is one of a very few elected officials who have attended the Kochs’ biannual conferences, where wealthy donors sit in on seminars on runaway government spending and the myths of climate change.
He is on first-name terms with prominent libertarians in the financial world, including hedge fund billionaires like Cliff Asness and Paul Singer, and spent his formative years immersed in the Republican Party’s supply-side wing, working for lawmakers and conservative policy advocates like Jack Kemp.
He has appeared for years at rallies, town hall meetings, and donor briefings for groups like the Club for Growth, which spends millions to defeat Republicans deemed squishy on taxes and spending, and Americans for Prosperity, a grass-roots group focused on economic and budget issues that is now trying to channel Tea Party energy into a permanent electoral force. Its fourth chapter was founded in Mr. Ryan’s home state, Wisconsin.
Nick goes on and on with info on Ryan’s intimate relationship with the most radically ideological of the big money folk. The simple way to put it is that up until now, these people have viewed the Romney campaign as a close and essential ally, but ultimately as no more than a means to the desired end of policies that reflect their business interests—and the “constitutional conservative” principles aimed at permanently protecting their business interests. Now they’ve got one of their own in a critical position near the top of that campaign. That should keep the pursestrings loose, and the carping demands at a minimum. If the selection of Ryan was truly a close proposition, this factor might have been a big tie-breaker.
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TCinLA on August 14, 2012 1:07 PM:
This excellent article clearly demonstrates just who it was who decided Ryan would be on the ticket: the 35 rich old white guys who have provided 80% of the Republican campaign contributions to their PACs.
Took NINE Captchas to get one I could read. HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GET RID OF THIS MR. GLASTRIS? PERHAPS YOU COULD HIRE AN "IT STAFF" WHO ACTUALLY KNOW "IT"??????
Josef K on August 14, 2012 1:08 PM:
So should (gods forgive and damn us) the Ryan-Romney ticket win in three months time, we can drop all pretense about living in a democracratic republic and just admit everything is bought and paid for?
zandru on August 14, 2012 1:29 PM:
Ryan's ties to the big moneymen of the reactionary right is one big factor. But, perhaps even more importantly, he energizes the base.
There was actually some hope that disillusioned Republicans wouldn't bother to get out and vote, due to Romney's lack of rightwing appeal. But having Ryan on the ticket guarantees they'll get to the polls, mail in their absentee ballots, etc.
If the Democrats work it right, Ryan could be a gift, and make it easy for them to distinguish themselves from Romney. But that's going to take work; the default is that he's a major gain for the Republicans.
SecularAnimist on August 14, 2012 2:07 PM:
Ed Kilgore wrote: "Ryan’s intimate relationship with the most radically ideological of the big money folk"
They are not "radically ideological". They are radically greedy. Their fake, phony, trumped-up, Madison Avenue-scripted, focus-group-tested, talk-radio-programmed, so-called "libertarian" pseudo-ideology is just bullshit to bamboozle the Ditto-Heads.
And they are not Ryan's "fans". They are his owners.
emjayay on August 14, 2012 2:09 PM:
Yesterday I made the mistake of clicking on the Preview button, which since the redesign of this site was producing a whole incomprehensible page of junk, with a preview somewhere in there which was not a preview, but looked exactly like what I am typing right now.
Well, all the extraneous junk seems to be gone, and it's now just pretty much a preview which is not a preview, but looks exactly like what I am typing right now.
Back in the bad old pre-redesign days, the Preview button produced text which looked EXACTLY like what would show up when the comment went up. Now that a step has been made in the right direction without actually quite getting there, how about one more step and make it actually usefu. Like it used to be.
While I'm complaining, inspired by TC, I do like the idea of something like Captcha to get rid of the horrific spam sales stuff that used to ruin the Comments. But for example right below this is the bottom half of a word I'm supposed to type, and an umlaut below it, where if I could find umlauts, don't go there. Also I don't happen to know how to type bottom halfs of words. This sort of thing happens all the time. One would think that a competently designed system would avoid this sort of thing. Whoa! I can read the very next one!
Mimikatz on August 14, 2012 2:09 PM:
I always hoped that Obama's strategy was to drive a wedge within the GOP and peel the extremists off to the side so he could deal with the more moderates. Of couse that proved impossible because the extremists WERE the party, especially in Congress and after the 2010 midterms. Now the Ryan pick has made that possible, perhaps.
The key for the GOP ihas always been persuading the followers that they are in on the con. The presence of the big money puppeteers and Ryan's crazy ideas make that much more difficult this time around.
The Dem base will now vote with some enthusiasm, given tne alternative. The Dems' big problem is going to be keeping the middle from just tuning the whole depressing mess out and get them to the polls as well.
emjayay on August 14, 2012 2:11 PM:
Oh, please god do not make me use Facebook to sign in to comment.
danimal on August 14, 2012 2:23 PM:
I'd just like to say that the Romney/Ryan rollout has been about the worst bit of presidential marketing I've seen in my life. A Saturday morning introduction DURING THE OLYMPICS? Really? An introduction on a decommissioned battleship? How many jokes will that spawn? It looks like the messaging people were not prepared for the announcement and the political pros are already in CYA mode. It sure looks like a hastily arranged marriage put together by the GOP moneymen. Nothing else makes sense.
emjayay on August 14, 2012 2:28 PM:
Ryan and the Really Big Liar can make his sort of "fixing" Medicare and Social Security to "make sure they are there for future generations" or however they frame it sound reasonable. There is no way they can make Personhood the second the sperm enters the ovum, no abortions for anyone ever, or forced ultrasounds sound like, all of which which one or both are on the record supporting. I'm sure the Obama campaign is well aware of this.
Oh, speaking of lying, if you read comments for example on Yahoo News, where the normal people post stuff, it's all Obummer the Dictator and the biggest liar ever who needs a teleprompter to say two words. To characterise the least dictatorial, most compromising (or trying really hard to, to no avail most of the time) president in years (Unitary Executive Theory anyone? Signing statements saying, sorry, not enforcing this one?). Also one who hasn't noticeably lied about much of anything I can think of, and is clearly way more articulate than your average politician, particulary his predecessor, not that that is a very high standard.
Oh, how about this: "Obammy". That one clarifies things.
But actually an interesting thing at Yahoo is that sometimes someone will make a comment that you or I might support, and sometimes they get tons of "likes". I think usually something anti-rich or anti-corporations or anti-Bain. I hope the Obama team is paying attention.
Oh that's better Captcha. Top half of a word. And half a dot.