Romney Picks Ryan as VP; Romney, Ryan Speak in Norfolk
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And let's bring in some of our CNN contributors, John Avlon, senior political columnist with TheDailyBeast.com; former Bush White House press secretary Ari Fleischer; Democratic strategist James Carville; and CNN senior political analyst, former presidential adviser David Gergen. You know, he really, Paul Ryan, when you think about it, David, he has no real foreign policy, national security experience, no private sector experience. He's basically been in government virtually every since he graduated from Miami University of Ohio. What does that say to you?</s>DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It says to me that this announcement this morning is important because he's going to be introduced for the first time to a lot of Americans who never thought about him as potential vice president. And I think for the Romney campaign overall which has been mostly playing defense this is an opportunity to go on offense as they go big and bold. After all, the whole idea for choosing Paul Ryan was to make this about big, bold ideas. They have to show us that they can do that, that they can go to that level and also be persuasive. It's going to be a big challenge for them Wolf. But this is a very important -- we'll be watching this closely to see if they are up to the challenge they have just given themselves.</s>BLITZER: John Avlon, you know, for the first time maybe ever -- I think we should double-check this, there's not going to be a Protestant on a major presidential ticket. We have a Mormon, Paul Ryan is a Catholic. What, if anything, does that mean?</s>JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It is fascinating and it's a sign I think of how the country has evolved to the extent that that's not even the top line part of conversation. One other new factor, Wolf, is that Paul Ryan becomes the first pure member of Generation X to serve on a national ticket as well. So to some extent this ticket represents the torch passing, you know. I think it will reinvigorate the base not just in terms of style but substance and really bring this whole presidential campaign debate to a much more serious level. So I'm looking forward to that.</s>BLITZER: What's the most important thing, Ari Fleischer, that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan need to convey within the next few minutes once they are up on that stage right near the USS Wisconsin?</s>ARI FLEISCHER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Wolf, they need to plant the ideological flag. They need to send a signal to the country that somebody, and it's them, is serious about dealing with the nation's the biggest threats and those threats, of course, are high unemployment, ridiculous amounts of debt and high deficits. That's what it is. I think also interestingly they have a chance to recapture some of what Barack Obama had in 2008 and that's the message of hope. I think under President Obama we've seen the status quo was continued high unemployment. If they can make the case that they can restore America, as they put it, the comeback team, that's an uplifting message of hope that the Republicans are going to try to capture away from the Democrat this time.</s>BLITZER: Should the Democrats, James Carville, be all that enthusiastic, gleeful right now about this selection?</s>JAMES CARVILLE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I would not only be gleeful. I want to make one big point that Democrats are going to contest vehemently, and I suspect very effectively, that Ryan is anything like a deficit reducer. You know, he was on the Simpson-Bowles commission and voted against that plan. And most analysts think that Ryan's plan would actually increase the deficit. And most analysts think that his plan will actually increase health care costs. So, this is -- they are not going to concede anything on the deficit argument. They are going to go, the Democrats and a lot of people are going to go right at that Ryan's plan, will actually increase the budget deficit. They are not going to cede any ground on fiscal responsibility here at all, not an inch. And that's one thing I do predict, and I think that's very important to keep in mind as this unfolds. And I'm sure that, you know, Ryan is a bright guy and they will go back and forth on this. But we'll see. But I think the Democrats think their position is very strong here.</s>BLITZER: All right, let me bring back Jim Acosta, he is in Norfolk for us. Jim, you are getting more information on how this decision was made. Is that right?</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. That's right, Wolf. A top Romney adviser just e-mailed me this information just a few moments ago. I want to read it verbatim so I get this right. A little sleep deprivation and a lot of running around this morning. So, let's get this right: Quote, "Governor made his decision on August 1st and placed a call to Ryan from Beth's office at headquarters. That, of course, is Beth Myers, the head of his vice presidential selection process. This was after he returned from his foreign trip. He asked to meet with Ryan in person. And they subsequently met and the offer was made. That according to a top Romney adviser. No word, Wolf, as to when they sealed this deal, waiting to get some guidance on that. But we are starting to put some of the pieces together, that a call was made, it looks like, on August 1st, to Paul Ryan. So, not only did Mitt Romney make this decision and know about this decision on August 1st and keep all of this secret from the rest of us for several days, nearly two weeks, so did Paul Ryan, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Interesting stuff. But John King, should we be surprised that this decision is being announced even before the formal end of the Olympic Games? We all thought he didn't want to do that, because that would take away some of the excitement.</s>JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, if you think Paul Ryan is a surprise, you might think the timing is a surprise as well. But look, one person and one person alone decides who and then decides how. And I'm sure, you know, Governor Romney's staff just yesterday - you and I were having a conversations where a lot of the people who said it would happen early next week after the Olympic closing ceremony of this weekend. We said, well, maybe now he'll wait till after the bus tour to try to gin up excitement. Well, you know what, some of them -- this is close to Governor Romney, didn't know that this was going to happen. Some of them were told later last night it is going to happen. Others, you know, the outer circle of advisers woke up this morning and said, whoa, and they started being reporters just like us. So, you know, the governor has to make this decision. And we look at this from a traditional standpoint, that why would you do this with big Olympics event, why would you do it this far off from the convention, because now we'll all pick Paul Ryan apart. In the new media age 24/7, they made a decision. Look, you can argue this, you can argue that. Barack Obama announced his candidacy on the Saturday, Hillary Clinton announced her candidacy on a Saturday. I think they announced Biden -- it leaked Friday night, but they announced it on a Saturday. So, there are no golden rules anymore in the new world of communications. And he is going on this bus trip. He does need to change the dynamics of the campaign. I think they decided, you know what, let's go.</s>GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: And I think once they chose him, which is August 1, and let him know, as we now all know, I think it was a -- I think it was a matter of when they thought the right opportunity was. Well, you have this bus tour going on, you want to gin up a lot for attention for your bus tour, what better way to do it than announce your running mate?</s>CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: And on weekends you give it a crowd, because people aren't at work --</s>BORGER: Right.</s>CROWLEY: So, that's number one. And number two, even if you look at it from old media, he will dominate the Sunday morning talk shows, I can assure you, as well as the Sunday morning papers, when people stay home and actually read their newspapers and watch a little Sunday morning. So, you know, and John is perfectly right. You get --</s>KING: There's no self-interest in that. Watch a little --</s>CROWLEY: No, no, just saying, 9:00 a.m. That's all I'm saying.</s>CROWLEY: Indeed.</s>BORGER: So, what's interesting to me, is then you may use this byte on your "Sunday Morning" talk show. But, of course, we have Newt Gingrich talking about the right wing social engineering that was the Ryan budget, when he was a challenger. He's since apologized for that. We have President Obama calling the Ryan plan social Darwinism. And so these are all -- these are all bytes that we'll be using to talk about just what is in the Paul Ryan plan. What we know is that he wants to raise the Medicare eligibility age to 67, which Mitt Romney has already embraced and has already spoken about. But I think these things are going to be very controversial. Not to mention that he voted for the TARP bailout, and Paul Ryan also voted for the auto bailout. So here is the conservative who voted for two bailouts.</s>BLITZER: Because Wisconsin is like many of those Midwestern states very much influenced by the auto industry.</s>BORGER: That's right. He was voting his district.</s>KING: It is interesting in this, you know, 2010 was the Tea Party election. And we have a nominee, Mitt Romney, who is not a darling of the Tea Party. Candy made a great point earlier about his business career, where he's taken a lot of risk. As a candidate for the nomination, he was pretty cautious. Why? Well, in part, because he was out of step with the energy of the moment in the party. But again, not -- this is not to take sides, but give him credit, he won the nomination. Some will say weak field, some will say he had more money. He's the nominee. He won. And winning matters, and so this is a -- this is a bolder choice. We are 86 days -- 86 days in what is a very close election trending a bit toward the president right now in the polling numbers. If you look at the other fundamentals, Wolf, though, no president has ever won re- election with an economy like this. No president has ever won re- election with consumer confidence lagging where it is. This is a fascinating race with huge consequential issues before the country. And to John Avlon's point earlier, and I think we've all talked about this at some point. If we can talk about Medicare, Social Security, tax reform, America's place in the world, the fiscal cliff, the Euro crisis, instead of Bain and Solyndra, amen.</s>CROWLEY: Well, and that's -- and that's -- and honestly, when we talk about timing, what would we have been talking about? Harry Reid and, you know, I think he didn't pay any taxes at all, et cetera, et cetera. And this takes that off the table for now. And I think what happens is if you come back with that and Harry Reid or somebody who says, yeah, but we really need to see the tax returns. They say, that's great. We'd like to actually talk about some policy here. And so they can, you know, just sort of high road attempt, which gives them off some of the things that they obviously haven't been comfortable with.</s>BORGER: And he picked the man who is really at the intellectual center of that part of the party. I mean, you know, for better or worse, you can agree with Paul Ryan or disagree with him, but he's the intellectual behind the budget plan.</s>KING: It's dangerous for Washington</s>BLITZER: By the way, the woman that we see over there, you see here over there, right near that post in the pink sweater, that's Ann Romney, Mitt Romney's wife. She's meeting with some of the folks over there. It looks like she's got a cap, maybe says USS Wisconsin. She's getting excited I'm sure as well for this announcement. Ari Fleischer, let me bring you back into this conversation. You're a good solid Republican, you worked in the Bush White House. The fact that Paul Ryan really is a product for the last 20 years of his life of inside the Washington, D.C. Beltway, either as a staffer, or think tanker, or a member of Congress, that he really has no practical, private sector experience. No real national security experience. How much of a liability is that going to be for this ticket?</s>FLEISCHER: You know, Wolf, it's a great question. And I know Paul very well. He doesn't talk like he's from Washington. He really has retained kind of the core being from the heartland, the ability to just connect with people, to speak plain English. You won't hear him do as Bob Dole, a creature of Washington did, talk in Senate speak or Congress speak. He has that way of speaking in a very humble, very down to earth, easy to understand manner. So, you wouldn't know he's from Washington in that sense. So, I think he's a good combination of a real policy expert who also brings intellectualism to a conservative ideology, with something that people, like many conservatives, have been searching for. We really want somebody who can wrap the reason we need to confront the deficit, confront the debt in an upbeat manner because this is how you save the republic. That's what he conveys when he speaks. And I think that's exciting for Republicans. What you don't want is an accountant put on the ticket, somebody who speaks like an accountant. You want someone who's uplifting nature to them. The private sector side, Wolf, I think Republicans give him a pass because, first of all, you have Mitt Romney who comes from the private sector, makes a nice balance for the ticket. And I don't think for independents, or the Democrats who are persuadable, that's going to matter.</s>BLITZER: And the fact that he's never really managed anything in his career other than a relatively small congressional staff, what does that say?</s>FLEISCHER: Well, certainly it worked for President Obama. And State Senator Obama really didn't have much experience,</s>BLITZER: Does that neutralize some of the criticism of President Obama and Joe Biden, for that matter?</s>FLEISCHER: That criticism is not what this election is about. This is not an election by virtue of -- this is an election that Mitt Romney needs to turn into ideology, turn into the big policy matters that are going to change this country for better or for worse. That's where this election stands. Now from President Obama's point of view, he wants to make the focus on senior citizens, on Medicare, and, of course, on Mitt Romney's record.</s>BLITZER: There's Bob McDonnell. He's the governor of Virginia. He was supposedly on one of the short list as well. Obviously he didn't get the vice presidential pick, but he's going to be introducing Mitt Romney, who in turn will introduce Paul Ryan. So, we're not very far away. Stand by for that. I want to quickly bring in Donna Brazile, our Democratic strategist who was the campaign manager for Al Gore's 2000 campaign. Donna, give me a quick thought. What do you think about this decision? The most important decision that a presidential candidate can make, who the running mate will be. What do you think of Mitt Romney's decision?</s>DONNA BRAZILE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think it says a lot about Governor Romney that he selected someone who is the architect of a radical Republican budget on Capitol Hill, that would basically double down on tax cuts for the wealthy, cut back, you know, government programs for the poor and the middle class. This is going to be a classic conversation as to the role of government in our lives. We know that Paul Ryan opposed Simpson-Bowles deficit solution because it contained revenues. So, I think this is a conversation that the country should have. It may allow us to have a substantive conversation in terms of the challenges we face long-term in terms of the fiscal -- get our fiscal house in order. But was it a bold choice? Absolutely. Was it a risky choice, you bet. And Democrats understand that Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney now will, you know, put seniors at risk by jeopardizing Medicare, turn it into a private voucher system. This is going to be a conversation that we look forward to. But for today I think the best thing I can say as a Democrat, as an American, is congratulations to Paul Ryan and his family. This is going to be an interesting race. And I'm sure that over the next couple of weeks we'll get to know Paul Ryan's budget, his ideas, his plan. But for now I think it fills a big doughnut hole that Mitt Romney had in his own campaign, and detailing what he stood for on many fiscal issues. Paul Ryan will, his budget and his proposals will now fill that gap.</s>BLITZER: You know, this is going to be a good serious substantive debate. Let me bring David Gergen back into this conversation, as we await Mitt Romney. He's getting ready to speak, he is being introduced by Bob McDonnell, right now the governor of Virginia. He's speaking about a whole bunch of Virginia-related issues, some races out there as well. David Gergen, the Republicans will argue, and you know this, that what Paul Ryan is proposing as far as Medicare, for example, is concerned, he wants to save Medicare because if it keeps on going away it is right now -- it will be destroyed for everyone. That's why he's come up with his bold ideas for people under 55 years old. Is that argument going to sway a lot of folks out there?</s>GERGEN: Well, it is certainly -- I think it was certainly brave, Wolf, when he put this forward. So many political leaders have ducked the question of entitlement reform. And the Ryan plan frankly has bipartisan roots. You know, it's closely tailored to a plan that Alice Rivlin and Pete Domenici -- Alice Rivlin, a former budget director for Bill Clinton came up with on how to save Medicare. So I do think that that is a, you know, I give him credit for putting an idea on the table in the courageous way he did it. The question is whether in the middle of a political campaign like this, with 87 days left to go, you can persuade Americans that this is not something risky.</s>BLITZER: David, hold on a moment. I want to hear what the governor has to say. He is getting ready to introduce Mitt Romney. This is Bob McDonnell, the governor of Virginia.</s>GOV. BOB MCDONNELL (R ), VIRGINIA: And he said something I still can't believe, I'm still looking at that transcript to see if it was right. He said if you are successful in a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen.</s>FORMER GOV. MITT ROMNEY (R-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you. What a welcome. Thank you so much, Virginia. (Inaudible). Thank you so much. What a great governor you have. What a terrific man and a terrific leader. Way to go.</s>REP. PAUL D. RYAN (R-WI), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Wow! Hey. And right in front of the U.S.S. Wisconsin, huh? Man! Every now and then I'm known to make a mistake.</s>RYAN: America is more than just a place, though. America is an idea. It's the only country founded on an idea. Our rights come from nature and God, not from government.</s>RYAN: We can turn this thing around. We can. We can turn this thing around. Real solutions can be delivered, but it will take leadership and the courage to tell you the truth.</s>BLITZER: All right. So there he is, listening to a little bit of Kid Rock in the background there, "Born Free," and the families coming up, the Romney family and the Ryan family. It's going to be a beautiful picture up there, two beautiful families. This the first time we're seeing both families together. This is the ticket. There you see his wife, Janna. There you see the three Ryan kids, Liza, Charlie, and Sam. And obviously we've seen Ann Romney on many, many occasions with her husband, Mitt Romney, their five sons and many, many grandchildren as well. So that's the Republican ticket for the race for the White House, 87 days to go or so. It's on November 6th. We're going to get to know a lot more about Paul Ryan, the Republican Congressman from Wisconsin. We're going to get to know a lot more about his wife, Janna, originally from Oklahoma, now from Wisconsin. We've gotten to know a lot, obviously, about Mitt Romney and Ann Romney over these past several years. Pretty important speeches from both Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney, even though Mitt Romney self- acknowledged a little bit of a blunder there when he introduced -- when he introduced Paul Ryan as the next President of the United States, unfortunately for him, that was a mistake. He later came back and said, you know, I've made mistakes before. I'm really talking about the next vice president of the United States. Stuff like that happens all of the time. We'll play that clip for you later. Let me bring John King, Gloria Borger, Candy Crowley into this conversation. We've got our analysts all standing by as well. And they obviously staged this, John, very, very carefully for millions of Americans. It's really the first introduction of Paul Ryan.</s>KING: And that's part of the two big challenges: number one, introduce a guy most of the country doesn't know. Maybe they have heard his name, they've heard a Democratic congressman say the Ryan budget or things, but this is the first time most people are getting a good look at it. But part of it is the personal introduction. And then the other part of it is what do you want to say, what do you want this to be about. And you heard Paul Ryan, especially at the end there, essentially saying we know what we want to do is tough, meaning also controversial, but we're going to have an honest conversation with the American people. We're going to put the tough choices before them and making the case that President Obama has failed to do that in his three-plus years in the White House. It's the beginning of a Romney narrative, switches the dynamic of the election quite fundamentally. Mitt Romney, up to this point, had been trying to make this about President Obama, period, and almost not about him, just about President Obama. This makes it pretty clear they've decided that approach wasn't working. And they're now going to have a choice. We're going to have a choice. And if that means a great policy debate about the big choices facing the guy who's going to have to govern in January, I think that's good.</s>BLITZER: I think it's good, too. Gloria?</s>BORGER: You know, I put that question about doesn't this change the election to a senior Romney aide, I said, isn't this now more about Mitt Romney and not about President Obama. And this aide said to me, no, this is still about Barack Obama. But I think what they are trying to do is say, you know what, he hasn't made the tough choices that we need to make in a serious way to save the economic future of this country. So I think the debate is going to shift onto a very substantive ground. But I'm looking in my inbox. Of course, you know, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman Steve Israel sent out a note that said that this match of Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney will be a nightmare for seniors who've earned their Medicare benefits. So you see the debate, predictable as it is, already starting.</s>BLITZER: And, Candy, we heard Paul Ryan say this is going to be a good partnership. He'll bring things to the table that maybe Mitt Romney doesn't bring, but certainly Mitt Romney brings things, especially private business experience that Paul Ryan doesn't bring to the table.</s>CROWLEY: Paul Ryan has some inside Washington experience. I think the other thing that's interesting, just stylistically to me, there's always something about Mitt Romney that's a little bit hesitant with his words. You always are kind of on the edge in some ways, thinking where is he going with this? There's a force of words that Paul Ryan has, that's -- was very clear, I think, in this speech. It doesn't mean he will overshadow him. And I think we saw in the speech he doesn't intend to. Fully, what, three-quarters of it was about Mitt Romney and the other quarter was about, OK, folks, this is what this election is about. So I think he does bring a real certainty and power to the words that sometimes Mitt Romney sort of seems to be searching for the next way not to get in trouble that doesn't seem to be that with Ryan and he'll be a power on the campaign trail. But he's not Joe Biden. And that's what's going to be interesting, is that Joe Biden -- we have seen him now for however many years, but even most recently in this election, Joe Biden is out there. He is smashing the opposition. I don't think this is that attack dog number two.</s>BLITZER: Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, the former Republican presidential candidate, is joining us on the phone right now. Mr. Speaker, thanks very much. Give us your immediate reaction to the Romney-Ryan ticket.</s>FORMER REP. NEWT GINGRICH (R), GEORGIA (via telephone): Well, we're very, very happy. Callista has known Paul since he was an intern for Bob Cashton (ph). He has grown into one of the great intellectual leaders in this country. His work on the budget is extraordinary. It is a real decision by Governor Romney that this is going to be a very substantive fall campaign, it's going to be an enormous choice for the American people. And I think Ryan is going to be very effective. He represents a Midwestern industrial district. He's gotten re-elected by big margins, explaining his policies. He knows how to campaign in places like Michigan, Ohio, Indiana. I think he's going to be a very, very big asset.</s>BLITZER: You know, I know it got a lot of buzz when you were running for the Republican presidential nomination, when you were on "Meet the Press," and you said this at the time. I know you subsequently explained what you meant. Let me play the clip. Let's go through it, because you know there's going to be a lot of people talking about what you said then vis-a-vis presumably Paul Ryan. Listen to this, Mr. Speaker.</s>BLITZER: I don't think right-wing social engineering is any more desirable than left-wing social engineering. I don't think imposing radical change from the Right or the Left is a good way for a free society to operate.</s>BLITZER: Now was that a criticism of Paul Ryan and his budget plan?</s>BLITZER: Well, the fact is that Paul Ryan, I think, listened carefully and he worked with Ron Wyden and they have introduced a bipartisan Medicare plan that allows you the choice, you can stay in the current system if you want, or you can go to a new system. But it's your choice. And I felt in our conversations over a period of months that Paul was listening very carefully and was contemplating exactly how to do the right thing the right way. Remember, we're now operating in a world where Barack Obama has ended Medicare as we know it by taking $700 billion out of the program. I mean, for Democrats to run, pretending they're going to defend a program that they have gutted, is the ultimate hypocrisy.</s>BLITZER: Because a lot of people probably don't remember that after Ryan -- Paul Ryan came out with his original plan, he then worked together with Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon to come up with an alternative of that plan, which is what you're talking about, Medicare. But even a lot of Republicans -- you remember Donald Trump, he was very critical of Republicans for even talking about Medicare, because he thought politically that would be -- that would be destructive.</s>GINGRICH: Well, I think -- but I think you have to, first of all, put it in context. Barack Obama has taken hundreds of billions of dollars away from Medicare. And ObamaCare represents, in effect, the end of Medicare. So for the Democrats to campaign, once again, dishonestly, pretending something is not true, this fall campaign is going to be a very interesting contest between the ability of simple, straightforward truth. And I think you just saw with Paul Ryan, a guy who is going to be very factual and very knowledgeable, but he's going to calmly and directly tell the truth. And you're going to have the Democrats who cannot defend their record running the most demagogic campaign of modern times. And you saw that if you saw "The Wall Street Journal" lead editorial that said they can't find any truth coming out of the Obama campaign. I mean, it is pathetic how bad they have become.</s>BLITZER: Look ahead to the debate that will take place in October between Paul Ryan and Joe Biden, two men you know well. You have seen them both in action over the years. I'm pretty excited about it. What about you?</s>GINGRICH: Oh, I think it will be terrific. I think that Ryan's command of the facts, his understanding of reality, his ability to talk in the language of Janesville, Wisconsin, it is going to be very interesting to watch that debate. But I also think you're going to see between now and then, Paul Ryan is going to have an impact on the campaign trail. You have a 42-year- old, really committed, competent person, who's enthusiastic, energetic, has a beautiful family and is a very faithful Catholic. He's going to have a big impact in that community which currently feels it is under siege (inaudible), at war with the Catholic church. I think Ryan has many different positive impacts. I think it was a tremendous decision by Governor Romney. Well, Joe Biden is a Catholic as well, so you'll have two Catholics running for vice president of the United States. As you look ahead to what's going to happen over these next, what, 86, 87 days, it looks to me like this race now is going to be much more substantive, dealing with serious economic related issues as opposed to some of the frivolous stuff.</s>GINGRICH: Well, I think that was a deliberate choice by Governor Romney. Governor Romney wants to have a debate over public policy and I think he knows that he may or may not win a campaign on personal attacks but he's going to win a campaign based on public policy.</s>BLITZER: Newt Gingrich, we'll stay in close touch with you, the former Speaker, the former Republican presidential candidate. We'll take a quick break. When we come back, we have an exclusive, something you will see and hear, only hear on CNN. Beth Myers, the woman who helped Mitt Romney put this ticket together, she speaks to our own Gloria Borger.