House Speaker Paul Ryan’s definitive refusal to accept a possible draft nomination in a contested convention may disappoint some Republicans.
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“Let me be clear”, Ryan said, addressing reporters at the Republican National Committee’s headquarters. I didn’t… I will not be nominated.
Experts say that it is highly likely that there will be a contested convention in the party. He praised Ryan’s style, but added: “It’s admirable in some ways but not producing results”. On Tuesday, he said he would have none of it.
As Jason Easley pointed out in the pages of Politicus, “Ryan didn’t say that the nominee should be the person who got the most delegates, or candidate that had participated in all of the primaries”.
“I should not be considered”.
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Tuesday he would reject any attempt to draft him as a Republican presidential candidate, trying to quash speculation that he could surface as a unity choice should Donald Trump or Ted Cruz falter. It’s unclear whether a just-released Puerto Rico bill backed by Ryan will attract the needed support. But by choosing to appear before the cameras and in front of four American flags at the Republican National Committee, the speaker purposefully used the moment to call for a different, sunnier brand of conservatism than the grievance-oriented politics that have propelled Trump to the top of the Republican race.
Ryan also told reporters it was “too soon” to weigh in on an emergency funding “Marshall Plan” that some lawmakers have proposed to boost countries in the region socially and economically rather than only focus on military aspects in the fight to counter Islamic State and other militant groups.
Ryan’s campaign also noted he is outpacing the fundraising operation of his predecessor, John Boehner, R-Ohio. Shouldn’t Ryan understand how to craft a budget and appease the Tea Party? Paul Ryan lost the 2012 campaign as VP and it wasn’t all Mitt Romney’s fault.
It doesn’t get more establishment elite than John McCain, except for any Bush still running around (another inner party sore spot but I digress). “I want to put that to rest once and for all”.
“There was a lot of excitement last fall when newly elected Speaker Ryan was talking about 2016 being a year of policy and passing a robust policy agenda”, said Dan Holler, spokesman at Heritage Action for America.
On the budget, Boehner confronted a comparable situation in 2014 to where Ryan is now.
Ryan has faced persistent speculation that he could emerge as the GOP nominee from a contested Republican convention. “But I’ll also be clear about something else: not running does not mean I’m going to disappear”.
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Ryan – an acolyte of Jack Kemp, a former NY congressman who was a “compassionate conservative” before George W. Bush coined the phrase – is keeping his eye on a horizon longer than the seven months between now and the election.
