In mid-January, I wrote to a friend, telling him about hearing House Speaker Paul Ryan talk about designing a GOP campaign vision for House and Senate candidates to campaign on in 2016.
“My goal is to help unify the conservative movement so we can unify the Republican party and give the country a really clear choice,” Ryan said. “We can’t wait around until July when we have convention, we’ve got to get going now.”
House Speaker Ryan says he will not accept a presidential nomination, stating it should go to someone who has run for the office. (yurigripas/reuters)
He talked of members coming together to develop an agenda to present to voters, saying, “we owe people the right to decide if they want to stay on this path or not.” Republican senators and representatives met in January to begin setting priorities.
Even the left-leaning Los Angeles Times reported on his plan in its Jan. 2, 2016 piece, “For 2016, House Speaker Paul Ryan sets sights on crafting a GOP campaign vision.”
In the past few days, however, the liberal media has been making much over a website video House Speaker Ryan made, and claimed it had all the makings of a presidential campaign video. They wanted you to believe he was seeking a backdoor nomination at an open convention. In effect, they were trying to stir the pot.
Today, Speaker Ryan hopefully put that thought to rest with his statement that he believed the nomination should go to someone who actually ran for the office, and that he would not accept a draft. He reiterated his plan to help Congress put forth an agenda that will solidify a conservative approach to retaining majority control, a la former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s 1994 Contract with America.
Looking back, I believe, our country passed up a truly mind-boggling opportunity for conservatives to control the presidency, the House and the Senate through 2028 when voters failed to elect the Romney/Ryan team in 2012.
But this is 2016, and I hope our nominee will sign-on to Ryan’s plan to unify the party with his agenda to move the country forward again. It’s our best bet to restore the faith of angry Republican and Independent voters.
