Romney Chooses Ryan for VP Spot on Republican Ticket; Obama Campaign Responds

*To no one’s surprise, as predicted, Mitt Romney has chosen Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman from Wisconsin, as his Vice Presidential running mate.

Against the flag-draped backdrop of the USS Wisconsin, Mitt Romney formally introduced Ryan whose budget-cutting ideas have the potential to transform the presidential race. Support for his proposed mix of spending cuts and tax cuts has become a litmus test on the right–and opposing them has become a rallying cry on the left.

“A lot of people may disagree with Paul Ryan, but I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t respect his character and judgment,” Romney said in announcing his running mate.

In less than three weeks, Romney is set to accept the Republican presidential nomination at the party’s convention in Tampa.

A senior Romney aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Yahoo News that Romney made his decision to pick Ryan on Aug. 1—the day after he returned from an overseas trip to Europe and the Middle East. Romney called Ryan that same day and arranged a meeting—though aides did not say when that meeting took place. Both sides kept the secret for more than a week.

Read/learn more at Yahoo News.

Meanwhile, here’s the reaction from the Obama campaign:

“In naming Congressman Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney has chosen a leader of the House Republicans who shares his commitment to the flawed theory that new budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthy, while placing greater burdens on the middle class and seniors, will somehow deliver a stronger economy. The architect of the radical Republican House budget, Ryan, like Romney, proposed an additional $250,000 tax cut for millionaires, and deep cuts in education from Head Start to college aid. His plan also would end Medicare as we know it by turning it into a voucher system, shifting thousands of dollars in health care costs to seniors. As a member of Congress, Ryan rubber-stamped the reckless Bush economic policies that exploded our deficit and crashed our economy. Now the Romney-Ryan ticket would take us back by repeating the same, catastrophic mistakes.”