montana senate, where you have a republican candidate in montana running ads against the ryan budget. and you have a democratic candidate in north dakota also running ads against the ryan budget. i want to bring in luke russert, one of the things you hear about paul ryan is he's not a political guy and that actually used to frustrate some house republicans. >> yes, he's someone who actually enjoys having a spirited debate. he will not always necessarily go and say the partisan sort of talking points that would be demeaning of somebody. he likes to have a debate that elevates it. if you go to the house republican press conferences, a lot of times you see boehner and candor rail against the president saying he's been a-wall for many months and not willing to do the work, but ryan goes after the president saying specifically this is why our children are not going to have an opportunity to succeed because the president is enacting this policy which leads to this amount of debt. he's not always the type of guy that likes to throw the spears or the bombs, but it is interesting because it's a difference from what sarah palin was four years ago as someone who was a flame-thrower. in a sense, as you guys mentioned before, the high conservatives who take the weekly standard are the people who like to win what they believe the true facts instead of the fiery spirited rhetoric. >> david gregory, ryan/biden debate preview, help me out with it. >> he's a very disciplined campaigner. i had him on the program recently where the issue of gay marriage was coming up and he objected on the air to talking about it and said, this is an election about the debt crisis in the country. so he'll be very focused there. i think as the budget chairman he'll be willing to engage in the fight with biden over what went wrong with how close they were on a grand bargain on the debt. i mean, he is going to be a top spokesman for the campaign on all issues related to the debt crisis. so i think he'll be a strong debater against the vice president. there's no question about it. and again, i come back to the point of what's the message of mitt romney wanting to send, that he wants to be bold and creating a distinction on these issues, the economy, not just economic growth, but how the government has completely botched the fiscal sanity. and they want to use ryan to lead that charge and in that way it's very complimentary. >> do you feel like you have a sense of his foreign policy? >> no. not particularly. and i think he's going to have to develop that. i think there's a whole range of issues on which he'll be tested and he'll have to develop to use. he'll certainly be behind in that regard as you talk about a vice presidential debate with vice president biden. but let's be clear, foreign affairs are not going to dominate this fall campaign. what it will dominate is the economy and questions of debt and the role of government. and i think that's among the reasons why ryan was chosen. you know, here was senator obama who had a huge national security gap when he was up against john mccain. that was a big part of why he chose senator biden. that's not the calculation this time around. >> andrea mitchell, when it comes to sort of looking at this ticket now as it comes in matching up ryan and biden, you know, what do you see there in it? is the ryan/washington experience, the fact that all his experience is washington, whether as a staffer, is it all going to be a handicap to him? >> with some audiences, sure it will be, but you can't be more washington than joe biden. so there's some similarities. they both have blue collar routes and are both scrappy, they are both fighters. it's going to be an interesting debate, that's for sure n watching the two go up against each other. they are both smart. both very good verbally. but there you'll have a generational change as well. and that is going to be a big contrast. i agree with david and you that this is clearly going to be fought on economic policy and very bright lines in shap sharp contrast. you do have to pass somewhat of a test on foreign policy and show that you're ready for that 3:00 a.m. phone call, but that's mostly for the head of the ticket, the top of the ticket, less so for the vice presidential candidates and that's the strength of joe biden. paul ryan, i think, with some studying is going to show that he can handle the big questions, which are going to be clearly here, iran, syria and israel. and they are staking out a hard line. you can see who they are bringing along as advisers. >> kelly, i want to point out something david said in the interview with paul ryan on gay marriage. when you're running, you can say that when you're not running for national office, when you're running for national office, you're going to have a harder time being able to dictate what question, what topics you want to discuss. it's different when you're actually on a national ticket because everything is on your plate, whether you like it or not. how does he handle -- how will paul ryan handle that? >> and it is also different when you have been acting as a surrogate when you can redirect back to the issues where you're comfortable. this will be one of the big challenges for paul ryan. now, at the same time, he has had some experience with that as members of congress do because they are tested by their constituents and they are pressed in person. each one of those who has done lots of constituent meetings with town hall meetings and very accessible to constituents and having been on the trail with him, i have seen people don't have any problem challenging their congressman in person and vigorously. so he has some sense of confidence in doing that. he will talk about, i would imagine, the fact that some of these so-called religious cultural issues are not where his focus is. so he will likely give an answer on the issues that he supports where his positions are and then try to move back to some of the issues that are more his expertise. it will be a challenge but he will also try to help pull the ticket away from some of those hot-button issues because he can incredibly argue that that isn't where he has made his political career. that isn't where he has invested himself and it is not where he has scored political points. so he's got some credibility there to step away from symptom of those issues without some of the sort of -- when we think of other candidates who are in the republican field where they would have jumped right in, paul ryan is not one of those. so these will be challenges how he will have to stand in kind of the white spotlight, but there's a confidence and he has been, i think, a very vocal and visible surrogate where he's had some chance to test that out. i'm sure that sources and those close to helping mitt romney make this decision, i'm sure they reviewed a lot of the tapes, a lot of the sunday show appearances. he's been a frequent guest on those programs because he is an able debate debater and gives responses. that's why paul ryan is the second name on this ticket. >> let's go to alex moe, she's been following paul ryan around for weeks. somebody paul ryan referred to as, you have been following him enough they think sometimes you're a member of his family. set the scene right there on the ground are. more people showing up? are you seen much movement? what can you tell us, alex? >> reporter: well, there was a group of spectators and neighbors that turned out when they heard the news, but we have not seen movement in the paul ryan household for a few hours now. paul ryan attended a memorial service this morning for the victims of the oak creek shooting that happened last week in his district and then he came home and has been inside ever since. paul ryan has spent the whole week here in wisconsin. he did a couple closed fund-raisers for gop candidates. he was filming some tv ads for his congressional re-election campaign that he has been going forward with until, i guess now that he'll be on the ticket with mitt romney. but paul ryan is a big family man as you have been discussing. he enjoys being here in jamesville spending time with his family. he took his youngest son to session a couple weeks ago. he comes home on the weekends and wants to be around his family. he was supposed to go on a family vacation tomorrow to vo colorado. obviously that looks like it won't happen, but his bags are packed and ready to go for virginia in the morning. >> that made it easier to cover-up to the kids why they were packing. maybe he knew something before everybody else did. let me go to one of your colleagues that while the campaign won't be going to wisconsin tomorrow morning, they've got a little wisconsin with the campaign in virginia. garrett hague, who is one of our folk that is follows around mitt romney. our campaign there, garrett, you have been walking around the uss wisconsin, what does it look like? the type of place that a presidential and vice presidential rollout will look good? >> yeah, i think this will be a setting that will be perfectly fitting of a vice presidential rollout. the police here have slowly moved a small group of reporters back and back and back. and now off the property altogether. now i can tell you that even at this hour there are a handful of romney staffers inside setting up the stage. we can see them hanging a trio of enormous banners. there's a romney, mitt romney flag, a u.s. and virginia flag. have not seen any romney/ryan signage or anything to indicate the choice of the pick here on the ground so far, but as folks continue to get moved further and further back, there's still box trucks occasionally going in and other vehicles. we have been told reporters are allowed back on the grounds here at 4:00 tomorrow morning and folks are getting set up for the morning show live shots. another opportunity to check out the set as it will be put together by the romney campaign who has shown masterful straits along the way in terms of the visual of putting together large events with the uss battleship wisconsin behind me, that should be the case again tomorrow morning. >> garrett haake, we have been looking for every little sign and you pointed out a few hours ago you were like, you wouldn't believe the senior leadership that is following the campaign. i know you sent a note internally saying, guys, the entire senior team seems to be with romney. something is up. garrett haake, thank you very much. david and andrea, i want to talk about paul ryan and talk a little bit about the battleground map. david, when we talk about ryan and talk about the big, the one issue of big government, we have to remind people where he's from in wisconsin. and wisconsin has been the center arguably of this debate about what is the relationship between government and the people? >> well, and more specifically, how does government deal with budget problems and how does it bring its budget deficit to heel. that's what a lot of states are facing, that's what wisconsin was facing, and you had a governor in scott walker who took on public unions, took on the pension programs, and was willing to break a lot of china and ultimately prevailed and withstood a recall effort. so that's the state from which paul ryan comes. the immediate question on the presidential level is whether on the battleground map, which we still classify wisconsin as a battleground state, although it's been very tough for republicans. and so does this -- can paul ryan carry his state or can they only make it more competitive? it's been a long time since 1988 when republicans carried the state. >> andrea, one of the things about the final short list of three, they all had one other thing in common besides being three white guys. they all hailed from the midwest, if you will, the industrial midwest of ohio and portman closer to this sort of agricultural midwest, minnesota, wisconsin and ryan and pawlenty, there's no accident. there's no path of 270 to mitt romney without two states in that midwest region. wisconsin, iowa, ohio, pennsylvania, michigan, throw them all in there, he's got to figure out how to win two of them. >> and arguably ohio and wisconsin might be your best bets, although romney is behind right now in wisconsin. that could be overtaken. i mean, you could have a very energetic republican party. you're going to have a really energetic republican party, scott walker and paul ryan and all the partisans gearing up for the referendum that will be front and center in trying to pull romney through in wisconsin. but you're right, the battleground is clearly through the midwest. and you've got economic factors that we should talk about for a moment. it is not just what we have imagined what we have listened to in the economy, now you have this drought. you have a region really being hit by an act of god by nature, but it's going to have real effects, already is having real effects, not only with the corn crop but with other crops. and corn is in every aspect of the economy. so you're going to have farmers who are really hurting. and that is something that makes the midwest even that more volatile for both sides. >> all right. and david, we talk about the geographical, but now we have the demographic and the issue of seniors and the issue of medicare. and that brings us to florida and the third stop. and i think, frankly, the most important stop of this rollout. now, when we look at it, tomorrow is always important, the first rollout, but the message in how they frame the argument when they hit the state of florida, the first time. that's a big deal. i know for a fact that it's something governor romney himself is concerned about. >> and they don't have time to get ahead of this or else they get quickly defined and be behind it on medicare. because it's not just senior voters in florida or other states, but it's also this whole question in the middle class and whether paul ryan, his views on taxes and entitlement reform, is going to be something apparent to middle class voters. that's the key voting group that the president wants to make this a contest over and wants to ultimately win. so there's going to be a lot of upfront work to do on what will be his biggest liability and there's no question that mitt romney has thought this through about what all the down sides are to picking paul ryan and the medicare is the one flashing bright lights, but it's the overall message that a lot of romney advisers i talked to are talking about the need for romney to address in these next sections. vp rollout, then his convention speech. how is he going to win the middle class, particularly with some of the viabilities he faces in his own biography. >> andrea, in looking at other parts of the battleground, whether ryan is a factor, does his youth help at all? perhaps in colorado and virginia, two of the younger states, in you will, in the battleground with independent voters less sensitive on the entitlement front. >> yes, i think that the independent voters, some of the young marrieds and younger voters concerned about the solvency and the budget issues, the tea party energy that might be reignited by this, it is not an accident they are starting in virginia. one analogy in florida, think back to 1992 as to who won the new hampshire primary. it was paul songus. then he just got clobbered in florida. when they head south, bill clinton called him all kinds of just demonized what songus was talking about in terms of social security and solvency, and he called him a pander bear, and that was the near end of songus' campaign. it shows how treacherous florida can be when anyone trying to speak very tough, tough talk about medicare. >> chuck, let's remember, too, the phrase, change medicare as we know it. we have been through the health care debate and how easy it was to define something that was complex in a really negative way. democrats have had a lot of experience doing this on the issue of medicare. they are going to come out of the gates starting tomorrow with, hey, paul ryan, he's the guy who wants to change medicare as you know it. in a down economy for middle class, senior voters who depend upon this. and these guys want to completely dismantle it. what they have to use to counter act that is do we want to slide towards european debt crisis, we have to make tough decisions. so that boldness is going to be applauded and there's no question that's part of romney's strategy here to stay to independent voters as well, not just conservatives, we have to take bold stands here on the budget. >> luke russert, you're our guy in that you have spent a lot of time on the house side, there's a lot of house democrats that want to run on the ryan plan. it is now going to be, you know, it's going to be hard for any republican to run away from it. denny reiburg from montanaand a house member voted against the house plan and is trying to use that to his advantage, but it's going to be hard to be a republican and be against ryan. >> absolutely, chuck. and one of the things we have to remember about this in terms of the ryan plan, kelly touched on it earlier, but i can't emphasize how important it is for democrats, kathy vogel of western new york, she ran in a district that chris lee had to resign in for issues, it was a very republican-leaning district. there were signs all over god's country right above buffalo, new york, that said both democratic, save medicare. that message is going to be pounded away just like david said. as for republicans running away from the ryan budget, i think mitt romney making the decision now, they have doubled down on it. in terms of the messaging on this, i just read a report working on confirming it, but i heard rumors about it. michael steele, who is john boehner's press secretary, one of the best mess an men on capitol hi
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