Paul Ryan

Politico writes that Nancy Pelosi’s “drive to regain the [House] majority for Democrats is on the verge of a complete collapse.”  It adds, “Democrats are expected to pick up five seats at best — a fraction of the 25 they need.  On the eve of the election, some party officials are privately worried that Democrats might even lose ground and drop one or two seats to the Republican majority.”  Why?  In large part because Obamacare continues to haunt the Democrats, while the Democrats’ Mediscare campaign has fallen flat.

Milwaukee
Speaking at a Tea Party rally on a sunny Saturday in June in southeastern Wisconsin, Paul Ryan confidently predicted Governor Scott Walker would win the recall election he was facing that coming Tuesday, June 5. “On Tuesday, we save Wisconsin,” Ryan said to applause from the crowd of 4,000. “And on November 6, Wisconsin saves America.”

Cleveland
“In this war on poverty, poverty is winning,” said Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan on Wednesday afternoon. “We deserve better.” 

Speaking to an audience of supporters at Cleveland State University, Ryan, who's known for his wonky disquisitions on the federal budget, offered a comprehensive case for a vibrant civil society that cares for its poor on a local and personal level.

Mitt Romney leads Barack Obama by four points in Pennsylvania, while Republican Senate candidate Tom Smith leads incumbent Democrat Bob Casey by two points, according to a state GOP poll conducted by Susquehanna Polling and Research. Of the 1,376 likely Pennsylvania voters surveyed, 49 percent support Romney for president, while 45 percent support Obama.

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Bill Kristol, hosted by Michael Graham:

As Mike Warren highlights, moderator Martha Raddatz apparently didn’t think Obamacare was important enough to make the cut as one of the nine topics she brought up during the vice presidential debate.  Two other closely related topics that didn’t make her cut were federal spending and the national debt.  Anyone who had been asleep for four years before waking up and tuning in would never have guessed that Obamacare, rampant federal spending, and unsustainable federal debt had given rise to the Tea Party and had propelled the GOP to gains of 63 House seats and 6 Senate seats in the 2010 elections.

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Bill Kristol, hosted by Michael Graham:

Watching last night's debate, I'm more struck than ever that Obama may be able to fight the economic policy issues to a draw. Romney-Ryan still haven't answered the blame-Bush narrative, and that combined with scaring people about Romney-Ryan on taxes and entitlements have probably pulled Obama-Biden up to a parity on the economy. And it's hard to see what's going to change that in the final three weeks.

White House records reveal that the moderator of last night's vice presidential debate, Martha Raddatz, visited Vice President Joe Biden at his official residence on March 26, 2012. Raddatz is an employee of ABC News.

Vice presidential debate moderator Martha Raddatz of ABC News asked the candidates several questions on many important issues facing the country, including the terrorist attack in Libya, Iran, unemployment, Medicare, taxes, defense spending, Afghanistan, Syria, abortion, and what each candidate could "give to this country as a man."

After last night's debate, Vice President "may have some clean up of his own to do today on Libya," CBS reports: