Five weeks to go before the general election, there is consider question about how effective a choice Paul Ryan has been for Mitt Romney. Sure he's energized a base that wasn't totally enamored of their presidential standard-bearer, as was the case for the Republican Party in 2008. But Sarah Palin was a risk that didn't pay off then, and Ryan's well defined budget proposals, specifically regarding changing Medicare into a voucher system, could be a(nother) major reason why Obama's poll numbers have risen in recent weeks.
Looking at the Washington Post's poll numbers on Medicare that were released on Friday is extremely revealing. That survey showed that regarding Medicare, in the swing states of Ohio, Florida and Virginia, Obama leads Romney on that issue alone by 19, 15 and 13 points, respectively.
On Fox News Sunday, Ryan was asked straight up by host Chris Wallace – why are you guys losing this race?
This article appears in Sep 27 – Oct 3, 2012.