Ryan Brings Purpose to the Romney Campaign

There have been more than a few comparisons made between Romney's selection of Ryan and McCain's choice of Sarah Palin. Cheerfully the left reasons that a desperate Romney chose a flashy candidate to rev up a sluggish campaign and it will simply be a matter of Palinizing Ryan into irrelevance. But Paul Ryan is not Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin, as much as most loved her, had no experience dealing with the national media. Ryan on the other hand enjoys the sport. He has appeared on all the network and cable news channels smiling and self assured. Self assured because he seldom goes beyond his depth and no one either in politics or in the media can argue budgets, deficits, taxes, or fiscal policy without betraying their own lack of comprehension of the arcane details of the workings of government. For those who missed the video I posted of Ryan eviscerating Obama and Obamacare don't bother to chase it down. It will find you not once but several times before the election.
Another difference between Ryan and Palin is Ryan is a known quantity. Whereas Sarah Palin was largely unknown outside of Alaska even the most casual political junkie knows who and what Paul Ryan is. The moment word leaked out that he was the VP pick money poured into the Romney campaign and the crowds turned out to see their hero enjoined in the battle. Sarah Palin drew large crowds too but not the first day John McCain introduced her. Yes, we've heard David Axelrod whine that Ryan and Romney are radicals but try selling that idea to the public. Two handsome men with beautiful families who have been constants on the national scene for the past decade are now to be suspected of radicalism because David Axelrod says they are?
Tell that to the thousands of people who turned out to see them in Norfolk, Manassas, and High Point. And who were those people who showed up when the polls show Obama and Biden are leading in those states. They were what Scot Rasmussen would call likely voters as opposed to registered voters who drive most polls. Does anyone recall such an upsurge in support and enthusiasm when Joe Biden's name was announced?
By choosing Ryan as his vice president Romney has almost assured the nation that the focus of the election will be on deficits and the economy, two subjects Obama and the left are loath to touch. On cannot say Ryan without adding budget. Even the Obama friendly media will drive the conversation to Ryan's strong suit in spite of their best efforts to avoid it. Most of all, the presence of Ryan will keep Romney on message. The campaign has been almost aimless in recent weeks as Romney has struggled to define the goals he hopes to achieve.
I'll go out on a limb and predict that Romney will pull ahead of Obama sharply in both the Gallup and Rasmussen tracking polls. As of today both candidate registered 46% in the Gallup poll while Romney had a 2 point edge in the Rasmussen poll, leading 46% to 44%. As I see it, there are two classes of undecided voters. There are the conservative voters who had despaired of seeing a conservative on the Republican ticket and they will come home quickly now. The other class of undecided voters are independents who voted for Obama but who answer that they disapprove of the job he is doing. Ryan will bring a few of them into the fold. There are fewer undecided voter today than there were Friday and most of them will break for Romney and Ryan.