Obama campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said Monday the president's team wasn't concerned that the addition of Rep. Paul Ryan to the GOP ticket could put his home state of Wisconsin in play.
"I think we have to see how this plays out," Cutter said on NBC. "We feel pretty confident on our standing in Wisconsin. Not just because of the president's popularity, but because of what the president believes in. I think the people of Wisconsin want to do something about Medicare to ensure it's there for them and their children, but they don't want to put policies into place that are the beginning of the end for Medicare."
Wisconsin has voted for Democratic candidates in every election since Ronald Reagan's second term, but the recent victory of GOP Gov. Scott Walker in a recall election and Ryan's selection as presumptive nominee Mitt Romney's running mate has led to speculation that Republicans might go on the offense in the key state.
Cutter appeared Monday morning on the "Today Show," just after senior Romney strategist Kevin Madden. Both sought to frame the selection of Ryan as vice president as good for their campaign, with Madden arguing the Wisconsin lawmaker and Romney "have very complementary skills and very complementary resumes."
"I think one of the things Congressman Ryan brings to the ticket is that he knows how Washington works, and knows how Washington doesn't work," Madden said.
The Romney aide also looked to downplay the notion that Ryan was selected because his campaign believed a bold pick was necessary to shake up a race where the Republican challenger was falling behind.
"Gov. Romney has always been about articulating a better vision for the country, about a better way forward. This is a governing pick," Madden said.
And both Madden and Cutter looked to highlight the Ryan budget, which proposes dramatic spending cuts and an overhaul of popular entitlement programs. Madden said that Romney had previously signaled support for the plan, and that it was evidence that the pair had "shared values [and a] shared vision." Cutter, meanwhile, blasted the Ryan budget as an "ideological document."
"It's not courageous to put a Republican budget on the table that doesn't ask for shared sacrifice," she said. "It's not courageous to put a Republican budget on the table that balances the budget on the back of the middle class and doesn't ask for anything from the very wealthy. Being courageous means bucking your own party, and Congressman Ryan has never done that."
