Romney neuters Ryan; conservative angst soars

By Brent Budowsky - 09/24/12 10:35 AM ET

Remember those who said, when Mitt Romney chose Paul Ryan to run as his vice presidential nominee, that the "new Romney" had arrived? Wrong. We still have the same old Romney, while the new Ryan has been neutered by the old Romney. Does anyone believe Mitt Romney believes in any lasting values and ideals? So: Paul Ryan now sounds like Mitt Romney-Lite. Conservative angst is soaring. Perhaps the right should hope Obama wins, so they can start the Rubio and Ryan campaigns for 2016.

Mitt Romney has begun to state which parts of ObamaCare he applauds. Good. That is a start. Now Romney is saying that if elected he will journey to Capitol Hill and seek agreements with Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Democratic leaders. Good. I doubt Romney will be elected, but if he is, he should. Romney is now telling voters he will govern as he did in Massachusetts when he had to deal with Democrats (and joined Ted Kennedy enacting RomneyCare). Good.

For the right, if Romney wins it could be worse than if Romney loses. Mitt Romney will ditch the right in a New York minute if he wins. If you believe the right is angry at Obama, watch what the right thinks of Romney three weeks after he wins, if he does. Does purgatory ring a bell?

So what happened to Paul Ryan? The nominee who stands for nothing never intended to let Ryan be Ryan, because if Ryan is Ryan, Romney could not be Romney. Hence, Paul Ryan sounds like a neutered version of the Paul Ryan we used to know.

Beneath the surface the angst is rising on the right. The right champions the Etch, while their nominee is the Sketch. Conservatives will end up as part of Romney's infamous 47 percent. Romney's insincerity shines through. Voters get it. This is why Obama is more likely to be reelected, and if Obama is reelected, in the privacy of their souls, some leaders on the right will be shedding only crocodile tears.