THE RYAN ROLLOUT – AT 10:23 A.M. ET:   I've just watched the rollout of Paul Ryan in Norfolk, Virginia, with the battleship USS Wisconsin as the backdrop.

Look, these initial rollouts are never great.  They tend to be awkward and rushed, without too much eloquence.  As soon as the selectee is selected, the leaks begin, and the rollout must occur before the selection becomes old news.  Great speeches on these occasions are rare.

And we got the usual today.  Mitt Romney's introduction of Ryan was fine, and Ryan's acceptance was serviceable.  He comes off as a sincere, and, most important, knowledgeable young man, although his speaking style won't win any awards.  The key positive here is that Ryan clearly knew his stuff and it showed.  He exudes seriousness of purpose.  There was no deer-in-the-headlights look, which sometimes befalls vice-presidential picks in their first days of celebrity.

I did worry about two things, which I alluded to earlier this morning:  Ryan's youth counts against him if people are looking for the image of a man who could take over the presidency.  Brit Hume said on Fox, and I agree, that this problem will be negated by Ryan's sheer knowledge of the issues, which he will surely show in the days ahead.  Second, Ryan's ideas are easy to demagogue.  Already the White House is out with charges that Ryan would destroy Medicare, a claim we knew was coming.  It will be up to Ryan to counter the White House...and the only way he can do it is to come out fighting, and put Obama on the defensive. That is absolutely mandatory before the Democrats define Ryan as they've defined Romney. 

I continue to withhold any grand judgment on Ryan.  He and Mitt are going on a bus tour, and we'll see the new candidate in action over the next four days, giving us a chance to assess him as a national candidate.  I have the sense that his convention speech will be key.  It will have to be polished, mature, and devastating.  One pundit last night criticized Romney for bringing a pillow to a knife fight, and that criticism is correct.  I hope that's now turned around. 

Mario Cuomo once said that you campaign in poetry and govern in prose.  I think we've got to hear more poetry at this stage.  The Romney/Ryan ticket is a governing ticket.  Now we've got to get them into the position where they're elected to govern.

August 11, 2012