Romney Announces Paul Ryan as His VP Pick: Will He Be Able to Win With This Ticket?

Early Saturday morning, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney announced that he had chosen Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate for the 2012 presidential election.

42-year-old Ryan, is considered a rising GOP star and the party’s leader on fiscal and budgetary issues. Ryan is chairman of the House Budget Committee and the architect of the House GOP’s budget proposal, and his selection as Romney’s vice-presidential pick ensures that the economy will be the defining issue of the election.

Ryan’s place on the ticket is sure to appease the party’s conservative wing, which has never fully warmed to the more moderate Romney. In Ryan, they find a like-minded ally who supports dramatic policy solutions to the U.S.’s fiscal woes. Ryan, who is an energetic debater, will bring youthful vigor to the campaign and will help Romney in Wisconsin and across the Midwest.

However, Ryan also comes with some downsides. Thus far, Romney’s campaign has been geared toward making the election a referendum on the president. Now, Romney is tied to a very specific budget plan that has a name and a face and has been widely criticized by Obama and his fellow democrats. In an April speech, Obama called Ryan’s budget plan a "thinly veiled social Darwinism." Romney’s choice in Ryan will certainly energize the GOP base, but it will also energize Democrats who do not want to see “the end of Medicare as we know it.”

So SodaHeads, what do you think about Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate? Will he be able to win with this ticket?