Why did Mitt Romney pick Paul Ryan for his running mate? It may have been due to an article in the New Yorker.
One of the tidbits coming out of the new book Double Down about the 2012 campaign is Romney became enamored with Ryan after reading a profile of the congressman in the New Yorker on a flight home from Europe.
Romney was impressed by what he read, which ultimately led to the Wisconsin Republican making it on the 2012 ballot. However, Democrats were completely dumbfounded by the pick.
The Obama camp, which had extensively polled Mr. Romney’s Veep possibilities, was baffled by the decision.
President Obama “was surprised by the Ryan pick, couldn’t fathom the political calculation that led Mitt to choose the front man for a set of policies that were so broadly unpopular,” write Messrs. Halperin and Heilemann. “I don’t get it, Obama said to senior adviser David Plouffe and communications director Dan Pfeiffer. Why is he doubling down?”
