President Obama’s campaign hit quickly against Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), after his selection as GOP candidate Mitt Romney’s running mate, with a new Web site and video hammering his budget proposals.
The video and site were introduced to supporters in an email sent late Saturday from senior adviser David Axelrod headlined “Get to know Paul Ryan.”
“In Ryan, Romney has selected a running mate best known for designing the extreme GOP budget that would end Medicare as we know it, and -- just like Romney's plan -- actually raise taxes on middle-class Americans to pay for an additional $250,000 tax break for millionaires and billionaires,” the email reads. “As a leader of the House Republicans and a Tea Party favorite, Congressman Ryan has led the relentless, intensely ideological battle for these kinds of budget-busting policies that punish seniors and the middle class.”
It concludes by asking supporters to check out the new video and website explaining Ryan’s policy positions and describing the Romney/Ryan ticket as the “Go Back Team”
“It's our job, especially in these first few days and weeks, to make sure voters get the facts on his record, and a clear picture as to what a Romney-Ryan administration would look like for regular people, when the slogans fade away and the real policy decisions they'd face as president and vice president are on the table,” writes Axelrod.
Democrats are making Ryan’s budget which would cut $5 trillion in spending and shift Medicare to a subsidized private insurance model a centerpiece of their campaign attacks, believing voters will reject the plan when they learn more about its details.
The web site linked to in the email lists criticisms of Ryan’s budget accusing him of seeking to “raise taxes on the middle class and cut taxes for the wealthy” and “end Medicare as we know it.”
The accompanying video opens with on screen text describing Ryan as “the mastermind behind the extreme GOP budget plan. “
Ryan’s voice is heard describing his budget. “We’ve got to put on a very comprehensive plan rewriting the healthcare system, Medicare, social security, our entire the tax system,” he says as the video shows footage of him with presumptive GOP nominee Romney.
On screen text then reads: “It’s a plan Mitt Romney endorses.”
The ad warns supporters that the budget would enact cuts hurting seniors, middle-class families, and students, “all to pay for tax cuts for those at the top,” and features edited clips of commentators raising questions about the effect of the Ryan plan.
But Ryan is showing no signs of backing away from his proposals. In a campaign event in Norfolk, Va. Saturday, where he was introduced as Romney’s VP pick, he pledged that Romney and him would “take responsibility” for the challenges facing the nation.
Ryan said that the campaign “won’t duck the tough issues.”
