I agree with the character assessment of Paul Ryan.
He is a sharp, well spoken, policy guy, who has been way in front of the game as far as elected officials in Washington demanding cuts to the government and revisions to the mandatory spending programs in order to eliminate the deficit and pay down the debt... He is a good family man, with a strong head on his shoulders...
However, pertaining to the election...
I'm not sure about the pick
It does send the strong message that this is what the campaign is about... not foreign policy, not socially divisive issues... This campaign is about the out of control finances of the us government and getting the economy moving again...
However, Paul Ryan does not necessarily add and geographic pull from Romney. Key states to push will be FL, NJ, PA, MI... I'm not sure what pull Ryan has in any of those states...
He does represent a fresh face, that is outside of the politics as usual crowd. He has already taken several key stands... blaming both parties for the spending trouble... going out of his way to defeat fellow Republican Congressmen's plans because they increase spending... and taking the budget problem by the horns...
However, he doesn't have world's full of experience, and represents the same thing we have all criticized Obama for, no experience creating or managing a business.
He does represent what Mitt Romney does as a leader, and that is not to pay attention to the popular reception of his actions, but to go directly to the details of the matter to find out the best person to hire...
Ryan should definitely be able to outdebate Biden, especially on policy, since Biden is always about glowing generalities, and is hot tempered when challenged on being wrong, and Ryan is a sharp, quick-witted policy guy, who will know the ins and outs of how Biden is wrong, and how to articulate them...
Personally, it's not who I would've picked. I would've gone with someone who has been outside of Washington for some time, and someone who has experience in some form of foreign policy/defense... Lately, the person I've been focused on is Giuliani, whose popularity among wealthy jewish NYers who retired to FL could likely have had some swing in the polls in FL... and who could likely have had the same effect in NJ, NY, and CT... with the support of Christie and Lieberman together... Giuliani is tough as nails on security, law, and is still admired for his handling of the 9/11 tragedy, and helping NY overcome it... He, too could outdebate Joe Biden... I know it would've angered social conservatives, but it would've had a lot of play with the more important middle ground voters...
Now, with Ryan... this election can't be about picking off one state or two here and there... this now has to be a total drive to win nationally by 5 points or so, and drive the momentum so that you can pick up a whole slew of states... IDK if that can be done... Romney will need FL or MI, WI, and NH... or WI, PA, and NJ... and still have to hold onto NC and VA... this is a harder task now with Ryan on board... There's enough time for Ryan to shine in the debates, and Romney to own Obama during the debates...
But, as an ardent Mitt Romney supporter... I'm on the fence with this pick... It's an excellent hire for a policy guy... not the best for the election process boost... We will have to see how it's recieved in general... Ryan is definitely a likeable guy...