Politico ^ | 4-20-12 | John Bresnahan & Jake Sherman
Rep. Paul Ryan is constantly brushing off questions about running for national office, deflecting inquiries as he puts his head down and turns up the volume on his ever present iPod.
But as his public profile has soared, Ryan has quietly built a national political operation that’s flush with cash and designed to defend himself and his party against attacks.
Ryan spent more than $1.6 million in direct mail since the beginning of 2011 spreading his fiscally conservative budget message across the country. He has $5 million in cash in his reelection campaign coffers — a colossal sum for a House member. The donations come from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to campaign finance records, rare national reach for a House member.
Sources close to Ryan say this national apparatus has been built to defend him and the Republican Party against attacks on his sweeping, controversial plan to overhaul the federal budget. But it certainly doesn’t hurt to have this kind of impressive operation in the works if Ryan gets tapped as vice president — or if he wants to make a national run himself in the future.
Ryan’s political machine — and his goal of defending a budget that has been shredded by Democrats and the Obama White House — shows the pluses and minuses in Mitt Romney selecting Ryan as a running mate.
The upside: Ryan is universally liked and respected within his party, is a stalwart conservative, can raise serious money and is considered a policy visionary among GOP opinion makers. Inside the House Republican Conference, Ryan has something of a cult following. A senior Republican aide said “everybody wants Paul Ryan on stage with them” at fundraising events in their districts.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
