Portman was a solid, conservative statesman. He is a HUGE republican fundraiser and has the respect of both parties in the house. He could have helped regain the trust of moderate republicans who voted for Obama.

Portman could have won Ohio for Mitt, easily. I was terrified he'd pick Portman, TBH.

Portman could have won Ohio for Mitt, easily. I was terrified he'd pick Portman, TBH.

Nate Silver ran some numbers on the possibility that various candidates could swing their home state for Romney. It was based on some speculative assumptions, though I think those assumptions overstated the chance if anything. He gave Portman a 6% chance of changing the Ohio result. Most important reason seems to be because he's still not well known even there - he gets 33% favourable, 25% unfavourable, and a rather substantial remainder of "no opinion".

Not sure about the Ryan pick. For all that his budget seems pretty deeply flawed, he's pretty much the only Republican who can claim to have taken a serious stab at it. I'm guessing many more voters know that he has a plan than know what's in it. I'm also guessing that the Obama campaign will be quite enthusiastic about bringing voters up to speed on that. It's not popular with independents, so I don't think Ryan helps Romney in the centre.

Presumably he's supposed to shore up the base, then. I guess he's popular with fiscal conservatives and hence Tea Partiers (though from Wikipedia's description of his plan, I'm not sure why - seems it raises taxes on most people and doesn't balance the budget for a couple of decades anyway). I wouldn't have thought that's the part of the base that Romney needs most help with though. I'd have thought that'd be the Religious Right, suspicious of his Mormonism, and the social conservatives, mistrusting his flip-flopping on their dogwhistle issues. I assume Ryan isn't a drag there, but I don't know why he's be a plus either.

Not that I think it'll make a huge difference either way. VP candidates usually don't, and Ryan doesn't really seem that remarkable in either direction to stand out. (And he stands even less chance than Portman of making a difference in his home state.)

His budget is a mess. Like it is not a serious budget at all. I'm not sure how his candidacy helps Romney except it might help bring the conservatives to the polls.

But this is I didn't get -- the conservatives hate Obama enough that they would probably have gone to the polls anyhow. BUT, it's true that Romney (not the current iteration) is really moderate so maybe they wouldn't have.

I fear politics this year.

OK, I was going to sit here and listen to the radio before I clean house, but I think I'll go feed my friends' cats instead. I hate the dog and pony shows.

Loki is totally creeped out when I come home smelling like other cats. OK, cleaning. NOW.

Before today, I've read that a Ryan pick would be good for Obama.

Today I've read that the Ryan pick shows Romney feels he's behind and needs to take a gamble.

ION, I'm driving to Clintonville today to watch the Perseids with my family.

And I stopped thinking of Clintonville as home once my parents sold the farm.

Before today, I've read that a Ryan pick would be good for Obama. Today I've read that the Ryan pick shows Romney feels he's behind and needs to take a gamble.

Both statements could well be true, of course (as I believe they were if applied to Palin in 2008).

Heh. Kristol advocated for both Palin and Ryan.

Also, once again Romney is catering to the far-right wing.

Eta: I mean, Romney has been consistently caving to the far-right wing.

So I'm reading about the latest magical kitchen thing. Precision induction cooktop. So hyperbole, blah blah blah. One of the testimonials so far is "My husband loves it. He can grill indoors, rather than going outside. He can join us as a family." Suddenly his story is more interesting that the portable 1/4 stove. Why can't her husband go outside? What was happening beforehand? Were they repeatedly grilling outside, and he was stuck inside, pawing sadly at the patio door?

WHAT PROBLEM IS THIS SOLVING FOR YOU????

I find it fascinating in the age of TiVo and the web that they claim they have "act now" specials--my TV is counting down 7 minutes and lower, but the web page seems to be offering me the same (typically seductive, but with an unspecified "shipping and processing" charge) without any sort of time limit.

Why can't her husband go outside? What was happening beforehand?

I assumed his family were the ones inside, at the dinner table or such like, while he was stuck outside at the grill, cooking the meat as menfolk are wont to do.