Paul Ryan and the problem with losing

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Category: News

Created on Wednesday, March 13 2013 15:51

Posted or Written by: Steve Kornacki

Like myriad candidates before him, Paul Ryan is learning how damaging being part of a failed ticket can really be

From Salon.com: What was most striking about the unveiling of Paul Ryan’s latest budget blueprint on Tuesday was how familiar it felt. Here was the chairman of the House Budget Committee for the third time in three years offering a dramatic reimagining of the size and scope of the federal government, with plans for deep tax cuts slanted heavily toward the rich, the voucherization of Medicare, and a thinning of the safety net.

In the spring of 2011 and 2012, Ryan put forward similar plans, which his House Republican colleagues quickly pushed through the chamber only to watch them die in the Senate. And now, with a few politically cynical tweaks, the annual ritual is once again being observed.

In terms of Ryan’s political standing, there are two ways of looking at this. On the plus side, he remains a very relevant figure in Washington and in his party. On the downside, you’d never know that just a few months ago he was the nominee of a major political party for the second most powerful office in America.

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