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CNN...
Romney's pick of Ryan as his running mate energizes conservatives, opponents
Norfolk,
Virginia (CNN) -- Mitt Romney on Saturday announced U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan
of Wisconsin as his running mate for the White House -- a bold and
risky move that energized both conservatives and their opponents.
Ryan
is a rising Republican star and the party's leader on fiscal and budget
issues. He said he is overwhelmed by the reaction to the announcement
that he is Romney's running mate.
"I was amazed at the
energy, the crowd, people who just want to see us take the country in a
different direction," Ryan said. "It's very exciting. We're going to
win this campaign. We've got the wind behind us. I'm really excited
about this race."
How Romney campaign kept Ryan tap under wraps
Ryan
is the architect of a Republican spending plan that would overhaul many
entitlement programs, making him a favorite of conservatives, whose
support for Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee,
has been shaky.
"You saw the response of our crowds,
very excited to meet Paul Ryan to get to know him," Romney said. "A lot
of them know him pretty well by virtue of things he's been fighting
for, but it just means one more person to drive a very strong message."
But the Romney camp was also quick to put some distance between Ryan's initial budget blueprint and his own.
"Gov.
Romney applauds Paul Ryan for going in the right direction with his
budget," the campaign said, "and as president he will be putting
together his own plan for cutting the deficit and putting the budget on
a path to balance."
His running mate choice draws some
clear lines with Romney's Democratic opponents over the size of the
cuts in Ryan's plan and his prior votes on taxes, which they say favor
the wealthiest Americans -- a point of contention in an election in
which both sides consider themselves champions of the middle class.
"Congressman
Paul Ryan is an outstanding choice as our country's next vice
president, and today's announcement demonstrates Governor Romney's
commitment to returning fiscal sanity back to Washington, DC.," said
former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who mounted the strongest
conservative challenge to Romney's campaign in the Republican primaries.
Read the rest of this story and see the videos at CNN
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