OTTUMWA —
Following GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s announcement of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate Saturday, local party chairs stood opposed on the decision.
Wapello County GOP chair Trudy Caviness was happy with Romney’s choice.
“One of our biggest problems in our nation today is our deficit and our over-spending, and Paul Ryan has worked hard on a budget and fiscal responsibility,” Caviness said. “We have a president who is the first in the history of the nation that has not passed a budget. It’s so important, as a person or business knows, if you want to keep your finances in line, you have to have a budget.”
Melinda Jones, Wapello County Democrats chair, said she was “kind of surprised” Romney chose Ryan due to “things in the past he’s done that were controversial, like the budget he tried to push through.”
“[He’s supported] tax breaks to people making quite a bit of money, and he balanced the budget by cutting education,” Jones said. “And his stance on a lot of women’s issues tends to bother me.”
Ryan has served as a federal representative since 1999 and is the chair of the U.S. House Budget Committee. Ryan is known for his proposal for a voucher system for Medicare and his proposed trillions of dollars in budget cuts.
“I think it’s a good marriage of skills and ability to work together, the legislative with the executive branch, to get things accomplished,” Caviness said. “I think it shows that Romney looked for someone who, number one, could be the president, since the vice president is just a heartbeat away, and someone who brings a lot to our main problems: jobs, fiscal responsibility, less government and intrusion in people’s rights.”
Jones said she could see now why Romney chose Ryan as his running mate.
“He’s younger, he’s energetic,” Jones said.
Caviness said she has no concerns with Romney’s choice.
“The thing of it is, there are and will be attacks on anyone who’s running,” Caviness said. “They were going to try to attack whoever it was. I had no concerns about him. I just think it’s a great ticket.”
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