Rolling Stone: The Five Fatal Flaws of Romney's Ryan Veep Pick

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/the-five-fatal-flaws-of-romneys-ryan-veep-pick-20120812

1) Who's the Boss?

Romney is the most awkward GOP nominee since George H.W. Bush. Ideally, he ought to have picked a dutiful, competent running-mate who wouldn't risk upstaging him. But Romney – like McCain before him – felt he needed a game changer. So he went with Ryan, a man who electrifies the party base far more than he ever could. At the ceremony where he introduced Ryan, Romney looked less like he was introducing his new side kick, and more like he was passing the torch to the party's replacement nominee – an impression Romney gaffetastically reinforced by lauding Ryan as "the next president of the United States!"

2) All Right, Right Now!?

For all the talk of Etch-a-Sketching a more centrist Romney for the general election, the Ryan pick actually drags Romney farther to the right than he was willing to venture during the primary, when he refused to go the Full Ryan. In winning the nomination, Romney left significant daylight between his own, pragmatic brand of free-market conservatism and the heartless, New-Deal rollback championed his radical future runningmate and the radically unpopular GOP-run House. Over the weekend, that daylight vanished. The Ryan Budget has become Romney's de-facto platform – and possibly his electoral albatross.

3) Don't Tax Me, Bro

Romney has been twisting in the wind over his tax returns. But the Ryan pick doesn't change the subject, it just raises more difficult questions. Like: "Governor Romney, do you really think you deserve to pay nothing in taxes?"

-snip-

4) It's the Medicare, Stupid

Romney wanted this campaign to be a referendum on President Obama's handling of the economy. The Ryan pick makes this solidly a choice election – about Medicare. And that's not a showdown Romney is going to win if the Ryan plan gets a fair vetting.

-snip-

The 5th fatal flaw: Even Reagan Republicans call Ryan's approach "class warfare." This is shown by a quote from David Stockman, Reagan's budget director, explaining why the Ryan plan doesn't make sense, can't work, and "simply exacerbates class warfare within the fiscal debate."