With most candidates there always seems to be one position that goes against one's personal preferences. For instance, one might agree with Rand Paul on everything but his passive foreign policy is anathema to many on the right. Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham are enthusiastic about Donald Trump on immigration but for many his position on eminent domain is off putting. Exactly how voters make their decisions is grist for pundits and political scientists but when the voters do judge on the issues rather than personality or partisanship they perhaps use something akin to the Chinese restaurant menu format. Select 2 points of agreement from column A and 2 from column B and if a candidate meshes with those points he's their man.Then their are deal breakers, positions that are too distasteful to warrant any consideration of that candidate.
Would be Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has 2 deal breakers in his portfolio. He is Mr. Open Borders and Mr. Trans-Pacific Partnership and he should not be within a quarter mile of the Speaker's gavel. Better Eric Cantor and that is not being overly hyperbolic. At least everyone knew where he stood. Ryan is a horse of a different color or maybe a horse of many colors. He has been touting his budget reform that would balance the budget in 10 years for the last 7 so score him moderately conservative on spending. On the other hand he negotiated away much of the sequester with Senator Patty Murray which gives one reason to suspect his commitment to his fiscal principles.
The question no one in the media is asking is, why after Kevin McCarthy announced his decision not to seek the Speakership was the election canceled? Congressmen Daniel Webster and Jason didn't withdraw. Obviously McCarthy had tipped Boehner who was looking to find his plan B candidate. No one in the Washington media finds it strange that both John Boehner and Mitt Romney have urged Ryan to run? He is the establishment's last best hope and while one can find much to question or dislike in Chaffetz and Webster both are a damn site better than Ryan.
"As donor class Republicans and beltway pundits intensify their “Draft Ryan” campaign, anti-amnesty advocates are pleading with House Republicans to quash the candidacy of the man they call the most open-borders member of Congress", reads a
post at Breitbart. The post goes on to document Ryan's work on weakening border enforcement going back to the 1990's.
President Obama would not have gotten fast track authority on the Trans-Pacific Partnership if not for the vote and efforts of Ryan. The measure passed the House by a vote of 218 to 208. Perhaps it's justice that Wikileaks
released a portion of that secret and malevolent document just as Ryan is will be most embarrassed by his handiwork. One might think the section on intellectual property was written exclusively by big pharma and Hollywood lawyers. Just what the world needed! A holy war on file sharing and higher drug prices.
It is a sad day when Americans must rely on Wikileaks for information on treaties the impact their daily lives but that is part of the culture created by Obama, Boehner, McConnell and Ryan. Ryan is the Washington establishment's last hope and let us hope he fails.