Mitt Romney Picks Paul Ryan for Vice President

Mitt Romney announced today that Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan would be his Vice Presidential running mate. The announcement took place on the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk, Virginia. According to FOX News:

The Republican presidential candidate called his new running mate a man of "steadiness" and "integrity." Speaking Saturday morning, Romney praised Ryan as an "intellectual leader" of the party, one who understands the toll the debt is taking on the country but is optimistic about the future.

"He doesn't demonize his opponents. He understands that honorable people can have honest differences and he appeals to the better angels of our nature," Romney said. "He's never been content to just curse the darkness. He'd rather light candles."

To the backdrop of retired battleship USS Wisconsin, an energized Ryan then riled up the crowd with a feisty speech that promoted Romney as the solution to the problems under President Obama. Ryan, met with chants of "USA, USA," gave a sweeping vision speech on free enterprise, one laced with attacks on the White House incumbent.

"No one disputes that President Obama inherited a difficult situation. And, in his first two years, with his party in complete control of Washington, he passed nearly every item on his agenda. But that didn't make things better," Ryan said. "In fact, we find ourselves in a nation facing debt, doubt and despair. ...

"Whatever the explanations, whatever the excuses, this is a record of failure."

Ryan accused the Obama team of being "more worried about their next election than they are about the next generation," and pledged a Romney-Ryan ticket would "lead" through the tough issues and correct course.

"It doesn't have to be this way," he said. "We can turn this thing around."

Paul Ryan gained national attention in 2010 when he released his budget plan called "Roadmap for America's Future", will drew attacks from Democrats.

Today's announcement came after a week of bad polls for Mitt Romney which showed he was losing ground to President Obama. The Obama campaign released this statement on Saturday:

"The architect of the radical Republican House budget, Ryan, like Romney, proposed an additional $250,000 tax cut for millionaires, and deep cuts in education from Head Start to college aid. His plan also would end Medicare as we know it by turning it into a voucher system, shifting thousands of dollars in health care costs to seniors," the campaign said. "As a member of Congress, Ryan rubber-stamped the reckless Bush economic policies that exploded our deficit and crashed our economy. Now the Romney-Ryan ticket would take us back by repeating the same, catastrophic mistakes."

What do you think about Mitt Romney picking Paul Ryan for Vice President?