the 42-year-old native of jaynesville, wisconsin, is the chairman of the house budget committee. he's married and the father of three children. he doesn't have an apartment in washington, d.c he sleeps on a cot in his capitol hill office and spends most weekends back in wisconsin. he's known for his love of exercise and sports and, of course, economics. ryan has been in the spotlight since introducing his controversial budget plan last march, a plan that drew derision from democrats and skepticism from some republicans at first. but overwhelmingly passed the house and now wide israeli being praised by conservatives who say dealing with the country's fiscal crisis will take tough choices that americans are ready to make. governor romney fired a shot across the president's fiscal bow today, selecting a budget hawk, a budget reformer and welcoming ryan, framed by a battle ship named after his home state. get the story from carl cameron. >> standing in finance of the uss wisconsin in norfolk, virginia, mitt romney introduced his running mate and promoted him to the top of the ticket.

>> bret: steve brown live in jaynesville, when which is now ground zero for politics apparently. today was a big day and it was a big day if virginia at the uss wisconsin. >> the commitment mitt romney and i make to you is this: we won't duck the tough issues. we will lead. [ cheers and applause ] we won't blame others. we will take responsibility! real solutions can be delivered, but it will take leadership and the courage to tell you the truth. mitt romney is this kind of leader. >> paul ryan has become an intellectual leader of the that. just stopped in manassas a few moments ago, earlier before the show. then they head to north carolina and ryan's home state of wisconsin on sunday. they'll come here to florida on monday and head to ohio on tuesday. we're also hearing of a possible stop in iowa. but it is not locked in. let's bring in our panel. bill crystal, editor of the weekly standard. kirsten powers, columnist for the daily beast. charles lane, opinion writer for the "washington post." and syndicated columnist, charles krauthammer. okay, charles, we had you earlier on tod

paul ryan works in washington but his beliefs remain firmly rooted in jaynesville, wisconsin. his integrity is unquestioned and his word is good. paul's upbringing is obvious in how he has conducted himself throughout his life including his leadership in washington. in a city that is far too often characterized by pettiness and personal attacks, paul ryan is a shining exception. he doesn't demonize his opponents and understand that honorable people can have honorable differences and he appeals to the better angels of our nature that a lot of people in the other party who might disagree with paul ryan. i don't know of anyone who doesn't respect his character and judgment. >> paul ryan was only 28 years old when he was first elected to the united states congress. he served seven terms, almost 14 years. at 42, he's the same age as the eldest of romney's five sons. ryan is catholic with a wife and three young children. >> i want you to meet my family. this is my wife, janna. our daughter, liza, and our sons, charlie and sam. i'm surrounded by the people i love. i love you too. jan

friends in jaynesville, wisconsin, where ryan grew up say his passionate belief and economic self-reliance comes in part from the fact that his father died when he was just 16. ryan is married, he and his wife janna have three children, ages 10, 8, and 7. at 42, ryan is the fourth-youngest major party vice presidential candidate in american history. bob? >> schieffer: chip, he was with mitt romney all over the weekend. today his first day out there by himself. how did he do? >> reporter: he did pretty well considering there were four or five hecklers who were extremely loud, standing in front of him. he dealt with it very well. he said "hey, out here in iowa and wisconsin we treat people with respect." he said "you must be from someplace else." the crowd loved that, bob. >> pelley: (laughs) thank you. well, if you believe the obama people, the selection of paul ryan is not the worst news they ever heard. we have more on that from nancy cordes with the president in iowa. unanimous any. >> reporter: good evening, the president is speaking behind me right now and all day long his campaign adv

so there will be a lot of references in his speech to his hometown of jaynesville, wisconsin, where he grew up and still lives today on the same block. also, he will say tonight: "after four years of getting the run around, america needs a turnaround and the man for the job is governor romney." so the goal tonight for paul ryan is to deliver this deconstruction of obama's record and also make the case for the man mitt romney who chose paul ryan to be his vice presidential pick. paul ryan, of course, just 42 years old. >> pelley: thank you, norah. mitt romney's speech tomorrow night is a chance to reintroduce himself and with that speech he will accomplish what his father did not. george romney, who ran american motors, also ran for the republican nomination in 1968. before this convention, we asked mitt romney about his plan to cut the federal budget and how a wealthy man relates to the middle-class. you were born into a family that was well off and now you're worth something north of $200 million. what do you say tow a single mother who thinks "he doesn't know me"? or to a guy who's 5

. >> jaynesville, wisconsin, is where i was born and raised and i never really left it. >> the lawmakersused on solving the problems that confront our country. >> and his impact on the race for the white house. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." in this special hour we will take a close look at the man mitt romney has skoed sked to join him on the presidential ticket, paul ryan. romney made the announcement from front of the battleship "uss wisconsin." ryan made a name in washington by battling deficits and fighting for cuts in government spending. listen to how mitt romney broke the news. >> it's an honor to announce my running mate and the next vice president of the united states, paul ryan! his leadership -- his leadership begins with character and values. paul is a man of tremendous character shaped in large part by his early life. paul's father died when he was in high school and that forced him to grow up earlier than any young man should, but paul did with the help of his devoted mother, his b

i think you're about 50 miles, right, from jaynesville, which is paul ryan's district and his supporters are gathering there in waukesha for a warm welcome. so, tell me about the crowd. >> it's quite a large crowd. they're going through the preliminary speakers now. you see a big crowd behind me. trust me, it runs out this way as well and over this way. this is the wisconsin homecoming. paul ryan and mitt romney landed just a short time ago. paul ryan said it was great to be home. he said he's been flying into the airport in milwaukee, never has he returned home for a welcome like this. he will be the republican vice presidential nominee. we're in a state as you know, that has been democratic reliablely blue for a long time, but these republicans here think because of the romney pick of paul ryan, because of the election buzz, the republican governor recently survived that bruising recall election. they think it's possible they can put them back. these people know him quite well. the american people are just getting to know the congressman, sometimes controversial chairman that mitt romn

his heart is still jaynesville, wisconsin, still define has great man like paul ryan. [ cheers and applauseomething big, he went there with ambition to accomplish something big. he's taken our party and with his intellectual leadership has helped make sure that we focus on values, that we fight for things we believe in. sometimes our party has gone astray over the past years and paul ryan said no, bring it home to the things we care about. make sure we care for our seniors. we care for our kids and we stop spending what we don't have! [ cheers and applause ] you know, washington is the place where a lot of people get by just throwing stones at one another. but he took a different approach. he tried to reach across the aisle with friends in our party and people on the other side of the aisle. he's one of those who realizes that honest people can have honest differences. and so he's worked with democrats and republicans to work on major pieces of legislation that help people. right now there is one that he's put out there, you see the president has put a plan out on medicare. he cuts medicare