It's been formally announced after several fevered weeks of speculation that Paul Ryan will, indeed, serve as the Vice Presidential candidate for the Republican 2012 run at the White House. Will this hurt or help Romney? On one hand, you have an ideologically pure young superstar of the party who brings credentials, a vote of confidence from both Tea Party folk and mainline neo-Conservatives, and some character and personality to a candidate who is considered rather bland by many. On the other hand, you have a double-down on the political idea that slashing governmental benefits, reforming and privatizing Medicare, and major tax cuts for the wealthy are the ways to turn this country around, a platform that many find distasteful and even extreme.
So is this a boon, boondoggle, or somewhere in between?