from washington, the mclaughlin group, the american >> the mclaughlin group is brought to >> the mclaughlin group is brought to you by at&t. issue one. pr blitz. >> i am deeply honored and excited to join you as your running mate. i'm excited for what lies ahead. i'm thrilled to be a part of america's comeback team. and together, we will unite america. and get this done. >> u.s. congressman paul ryan of wisconsin is mitt romney's choice to be his vice president

running mate. ryan is 42 years old. he was elected to the u.s. house of representatives in 1998, 14 years ago. when he was 28 years of age. he is now concluding seven consecutive terms in the house. ryan is the chairman of the house budget committee, where he originated a monumental budget analysis of u.s. federal spending that caused such a national uproar two years ago. ryan's family has deep wisconsin roots. fifth generation. he is the youngest of four. with two brothers. one sister. his father was a lawyer who died when chairman ryan was 16 years old. chairman ryan graduated from miami university in ohio in 1992, 20 years ago, with a bachelor's degree in economics and political science. after college, ryan worked with jack kemp, whom he called his mentor. jack kemp was a quarterback football star for the pittsburgh steelers and the

buffalo bills. kemp also joined bob dole as his vice presidential running mate in 1996. mr. kemp championed tax cuts to bolster growth. he passed away in 2009. paul ryan is a roman catholic. he is married to janna little. and has three children. mrs. ryan is a lawyer. their home is in wisconsin. where ryan is a sportsman. he likes to hunt. he likes to fish. he likes to snowmobile. when congress is in session, congressman ryan stays in washington, and often sleeps in his capitol hill office. when his work piles up, paul with his in bethesda, maryland, just outside dc. question, how much of a boost does ryan give to the g.o.p. ticket? >> pat buchanan? >> he gave it a real boost, john. i think r-mitt romney was in a slew of derespond, if you will. he was dropping in the polls. he bringing youth. he bridges energy. he brings exciple. he energizes the conservative base of the party. he is a likeable young fellow.

he is 30 years younger you got to realize than go biden the vice president for the incumbent president of the united states and what he brings of course is a tremendous knowledge of the budget and all the rest of it. but there is a down side here, john. jack kemp, who is his mentor of sorts, was a supply sider. we just cut tax, cut taxes and that will cure anything. cut taxes. this guy is a fiscal hawk. he is into deep root canal economics. and he's got a budget plan out there which on medicare was going to make it optional. initially i think they were going to do away with it. so the democrats are going to be able to go through this ryan budget cherry pick it, find all of the things where people are going to be cut and hurt and they will be pumping that out all fall long. but overall, i think you got to give mitt romney, he rolled the dice and i think he did the right thing. >> eleanor? >> the only boost paul ryan gives mitt romney is it ensures a unified convention. he is not going to get a revolt from the right at his convention. i think overall, there is a potential for him being a major

drag on this ticket. he is charming. he is an articulate spokesman. he is also the intersect ule leader of the -- int elect ule leader of the house republicans. probably one of the most disliked bodies in this country. and in a congress that has 10% popularity. largely because of the leadership of the house republicans. and he is their inspirational intellectual leader. he will be tagged with wanting to end medicare as we know it. he is going to have to defend his budget and any separation that mitt romney hoped to give between himself and the really draconian ideas advanced in the ryan budget, he is not going to be able to get away with. the democrats have been linking romney with ryan for months. and now, they've made it official by putting him on the ticket. it is the greatest gift to the democrats that they could have imagined. >> mort? >> the new york post wrote an insightful push on ryan.

and wrote an insightful piece on what he is able to do. and that is to unite the right, because he is a blend of fiscal conservatives, see because the conservatives have split -- they're somewhat split, both as far as language is concerned, but they're really split because there is a fiscal conservative, who wants to see deficits under control, and then there is a small government conservative, who wants to see the government share of the gdp cut down to size. and the writer's point is that ryan has both. because he has both, he is particularly valuable in drawing on this potential votership that he represents. you follow me? >> yes. >> you agree with that? >> yes, i think that is a fair analysis. and i think for that reason, implicit in what we were talking about before, he will unite the party, and in fact, energize the party. especially the base of the party. but i don't think that is the only thing he has done.

he has also energized mitt romney. i think he is just a different kind of candidate. since he selected paul ryan. so i think this is another contribution. i do not think he has easily widened the political base of support with this selection. on the other hand, the medicare thing i think is a little bit of a false thing because it will not affect anybody above the age of 55 in medicare. so he limited it. but the other thing is, i can't imagine that romney isn't go to go in the convention speech, the acceptance speech, that he is going to really outline his basic economic and fiscal policy. we will find out if he has a policy that he can put forward. and that in a sense incorporates enough of what his running mate is doing, and what his own ideas were. he was very clear, several times, since the nomination and selection of his vice presidential partner, that the fiscal program, and the economic program is going to romney, not paul ryan. >> you said so many things you've seen in romney, that he is not a different candidate,

but he is experiencing some elation. and he planned this out for a whole week. and they had met privately. >> isn't that excellent? >> he had been vetting people for a while. >> he had been vetting ryan -- >> and it was the early rapport that kept going. >> you think it has given him some buoyancy, some lift. >> and four years ago we were saying the same thing about sarah palin, weren't we, when they first unveiled her. and mccain seemed to have more of a lift in his step and all that. but i would not underestimate, mort, the dangers to the republicans of that medicare issue. because i was saying the same thing, when george w. bush suggested changing social security, it just offered people the option of going to the stock market, and it wouldn't affect anybody who was over the age of 55, well, it turned out the more that bush tried to sell it around the country, the more people hated

it. and it was the seniors. and we don't want you touching social security or medicare. and i think that is very dangerous, because a lot of people out there who are still deciding, and the undecided, are down to about 5% now, they're going to hear paul ryan, and they're going to hear right away he wants to tamper with medicare. >> and ryan is the architect of -- >> let eleanor in here. >> ryan is the architect of the bush social security privatization scheme. he also wants to eliminate all taxes on capital gains. wants to increase the defense spending. and this is all going to accomplished with these unspecified cuts. where are those cuts going to come from? >> i think he is muting some of those -- >> john, this is not a buddy movie. i'm glad that mitt romney -- >> do you have any doubt -- >> i'm glad they get along but that. >> but the fiscal erudition of this man? >> he is erudite of course.

>> he wrote the book. >> and are you talking about being an atheist? >> well her fiscal policy. >> who? >> not believing in government. >> well, the fact that he is intrigued by all of the scholarships, and he forms his own conclusions. >> it is not going to sell. >> the fact is that our fiscal deficit, and the deficit that we have, represents a threat to the american economy the next several years. >> it is an election year. >> i didn't say we're going to solve it. i'm saying it was a serious issue. he was very serious. he was knowing it inside out. extraordinarily informed as anybody. >> are you satisfied with the way he handled the medicare potential problem? >> it has not been solved and i think romney will hand tal. >> he says it doesn't apply to the generation today.

>> what is dead? >> the issue is dead. >> the optional thing and all the rest of it. romney is saying ryan had his ideas, they are not my ideas, i am not cutting medicare one eye owe ta. you know why he is saying it? once you get into the reality of cutting the budget from 25% of gdp, you antagonize and alienate people. >> it is preserving it for the younger generation. otherwise, it disappears under its own weight. >> how did it get there? we all agree that medicare is in trouble. >> he is pretty good on the way he gets there. >> do we need an overhaul of the tax system in this country? do we need it? from top to bottom? top to bottom? wait a minute. >> he was asked about when do you bring the budget into balance and he couldn't answer the question. >> 28 years. >> 28 years. >> and anything wants to look at that, what is wrong with that? >> that is fraud. >> more than 10 years is outright -- >> you want to do it gradually, without a con vulsion.

>> 28 years? >> i think he is a man of prudence. >> he is not the man. >> he is not the man, though, john. what we understand is romney has abandoned his entire medicare -- and he ought to. get it out of there. >> let's look at the ticket. >> the ticket is barack obama and joe biden. and then you've got romney and you have paul ryan. now, which ticket do you think you want to go with, for four more years? which ticket? >> which way do you go? >> the point is -- four years more. >> and who would you go with? >> i would go with romney, but the issue is the economy, and there are four more years. >> they're on the budget, john. which is the wrong issue. >> gridlock. >> they can't run away -- they can't run away from ryan's medicare -- >> they're not running away. >> the house republicans voted twice on it. every democrat, every democrat

is going to run against it. >> do you see -- >> with him on the ticket, he cannot run away from it. >> do you see, in the upcoming election, the senate going republican? the numbers are all in. >> they may not. >> there are so many democrats up and so few republicans up. >> they may not anymore. this changes the way it goes. >> when we come back, this is designed for eleanor. biden's blunder, question mark? issue two.

biden's blunder? >> romney wants to let the -- he said the first 100 days, he is going to let the big banks once again write their own rules. unchain wall street. [boo ] >> they will put ya'll back in chains. >> that's what vice president joe biden told an aud yefns -- audience in danville, virginia, on tuesday, a predominantly african-american audience that winced when they heard it. offensive biden's words were taken. congressman arthur davis of alabama was a former co-chair of barack obama's 2008 presidential campaign four years ago. representative davis switched from the democratic party to the republican party in may. three months ago. davis says vice president biden's remarks are an insult

to african-americans. in fact, he says that the words propagated quote-unquote racial viciousness. >> i know what joe biden was doing yesterday. and every black person in that room knew who the "ya'll" was, they knew what the chains were about, they knew what the metaphor was. >> on wednesday, one day later, the vice president tried to smooth out the contra top. >> the last time these guys unshackled the economy, to use their term, they put the middle class in shackles. >> the vice president added this. >> i know i am sometimes criticized for saying exactly what i mean. [ laughter ] >> it is not going to change. >> when president obama was asked about the matter, he said that what was important was the content of his vice president's message. not the words used to describe the content. >> what joe biden was talking

about, again, is an example of a substantive argument, a substantive issue, that the american people should be concerned about, and his phrasing n from what is at stake. >> do you think the president saved biden? >> to a degree, he did. let me say this. i don't think joe bide en is a malicious guy. i think that was a stupid gaffe. but a big gaffe. if a republican had made that gaffe, john, he would have been in real, real trouble. but i will say this, biden has made a number of these gaffes, and he is starting to approach the point where he -- approached the point where he could be a real liability to the ticket, especially when you got a bright young guy, paul ryan, with him, and i would take a hard look. people are going to be watching that vice presidential debate, and there is a possibility that biden could be a real problem by later in the fall. >> there are five presidents who have not completed their term. and the vice president had to become president.

can joe biden become -- could he serve as president of the united states and inspire and hold the people, in the light of everything we know about joe biden? >> without hesitation. >> questionable. >> without hesitation. >> what do you mean by -- >> let's hear this and let's hear you. >> and me, too. >> the chairman of the committee, in the senate, for a good long while, he has served very well, under this president, he has been involved closely in the military, in drawing down in afghanistan and iran. there has been a partnership there. and what you see is a liability, i think people look at him and think he is the closest thing to an average guy who has been in the white house probably since george w. bush. >> you don't think his words are cringe worthy. are they cringe worthy? >> his words, taken in the context of an opposition ticket that is running on unshackling wall street, and that is mitt romney, he used that term many times, the different between

shackles and chains is sort of a distinction without a difference. excuse me. i want to finish. it is not a new low in political rhetoric. it is another excessive rant. and we're going to see a lot more of this on all sides in this debate. >> is it also the opinion of the ows militants -- occupy wall street militants -- >> who care, john? >> what do you mean who cares? don't don't they also occupy wall street? >> don't they want to unshackle us from wall street? >> they unfortunately are not much of a factor. they're not very visible. so i don't think this -- they want to unshackle -- >> so you think it is just joe being joe? >> joe being joe. running against a ticket that doesn't like the dodge-frank bill. >> you don't have any problem with him jumping in to be president of the united states? >> no. >> and presuming a degree of -- >> i hope it is not for another four-plus years but i don't have a problem. >> john, can we get in here please?

the thing about joe biden is this. your key is he was a good asset to the president four years ago. but people are looking at him and one gaffe after another after another and let me tell you this, if he ran for president independently now, people would not move to joe biden because they would be concerned if he could go four years and be in control and in control of the issues. that's what this is really about. >> you think joe biden should be replaced? >> no, it is too late to replace him. >> why is it too late to replace him? >> i think it could be a dramatic disastrous thing for the ticket. >> it is not going to happen. >> does that depend who takes his him place? >> if you put hillary in there and throw him out it would be a huge trauma. >> so what. >> i think they have to ride through it. >> would it improve the ticket if he were to change the ticket and replace him with hillary? >> it would improve the ticket? >> in political terms, it would improve the ticket dramatically if hillary rodham clinton -- >> could he save the process if he is in the process of losing it? >> he is not in the process of

losing it. >> you don't think so? >> you don't think romney and what's his name -- >> what's his name. good point. >> go ahead. quickly, quickly. >> one thing you're all missing is nobody apologized for this. why are we calling it a gaffe? you know, everybody stood behind biden and his statement here. he had nothing to be embarrassed about. you put up arturo davis who couldn't carry his own district, the black vote -- >> tell me about that. what is that? >> who is arthur miller. >> another democrat who felt sour grapes about his own party and went to the republicans, and badmouthed his own party's candidates. >> the fact is john, joe biden was speaking his own mind here. he has done it before. >> joe says, suppose joe gets out there and says look, i put my foot in my mouth and i really am going to resign because i want to free the president -- >> he is not sorry. he said just the opposite. >> i know, but he changes his

mind. >> you're calling it a gaffe. >> pat is calling it a gaffe who never voted for a democrat in his life. >> you think he wishes he said it? >> do you think he is glad he said it? >> joe is still out there and he doesn't feel sorry. >> he's got a problem. >> and that's why we're talking about joe biden -- >> we're all happy with joe biden. >> the question is, does joe biden's shackles metaphor predominantly work to the advantage or disadvantage of the democratic ticket? >> he made himself a liability. >> it works to the disadvantage. the ticket, yes or no? >> democrats say this is joe. and they also -- >> what else can they say? >> what else can they say? >> they like what he said. [ laughter ] >> turning back the clock. >> they really say they want joe even though it is joe being joe. >> of course. >> it is a detraction from the democrats but not overwhelming. >> so keep joe? >> he is definitely going to stay. i don't think there is any chance he will leave.

>> barack obama almost never fires anybody. or gets anybody out. the fact is he believes in loyalty. i will tell you, the last year, i will say it no, there is no chance that joe is not going to be on the ticket. and the fact of the matter is that the people complaining now are people who ain't going to vote for obama anyway. >> do you think that barack obama lacks ego? >> lacks ego? >> psycho analysis? >> do you think that barack obama doesn't think he has the answers? >> it is irrelevant. >> he has the answers? >> he is going to keep joe. and that is the right decision. >> we'll be right back with predictions.

predictions, pat? >> because of what we discussed, here with joe biden and ryan, i think the vice presidential debate is going to be one of the most watched and very closely watched, and again, let me reiterate, i think if biden makes one or two more gaffes there is going to be real apprehension in the democratic party about how he performs and what is going to mean for the ticket. >> it is going to be biden and paul ryan? >> well, if i'm confident about anything, it is how joe biden will be able to perform, and the stand-in in the debate preparation is chris van holland, the ranking budget who has tangled with paul ryan quite a bit so he will be well trained. no anxiety among democrats. >> do you see any of those

tangles by the way? did you see any of them on television? >> of the two? sure. but they're both -- >> what are the tangles? >> they're both polite and articulate gentlemen and i say that of ryan and van holland. >> which one is more likeable? >> we're running out of -- >> who you want to debate? >> well i will go with the democrat. >> are either of them super sillous? >> no. >> certainly not ryan? >> no. >> quickly, mitt romney will make it absolutely clear in his acceptance speech where he comes out on medicare and all of his fiscal policies. we're going to make ryan's plan irrelevant. >> we have three seconds. >> i think the medicare thing turns into a of time. bye-bye.