Romney picks Ryan as running mate

11 Aug 2012, 10:40 pm   -   Source: AAP
The Mitt Romney campaign has alerted its supporters that

The Mitt Romney campaign has alerted its supporters that "Mitt's Choice for VP is Paul Ryan". (AAP)

The Mitt Romney campaign has alerted its supporters via a phone app that its choice for running mate is Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan.

Republican candidate Mitt Romney has chosen Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan to be his running mate at the US presidential election in November.

Romney made his announcement on Saturday to supporters via a phone app, saying: "Mitt's Choice for VP is Paul Ryan."

Romney and Ryan were set to appear together on Saturday at 9am local time (2300 AEST) in Norfolk, Virginia.

The pair will be kicking off a four-day bus tour that will take them to several states.

At 42, Ryan is a generation younger than the 65-year-old Romney.

The Wisconsin representative is viewed by some in the Republican Party as a bridge between the buttoned-up party establishment and riled-up conservative activists who have never warmed to Romney.

As the chairman of the US House of Representatives Budget Committee, Ryan could help Romney make the argument that only the Republican ticket knows how to turn around a country in the midst of a sluggish economic recovery.

As talk about Ryan swirled this week, Democrats have been castigating Romney for embracing the Ryan-sponsored budget proposal that critics say is painful to the poor and elderly.

It was a sign of the line of attack to come.

The move also now links Romney directly with House Republicans, including no-compromise conservative activists who have pressed for deep spending cuts.

President Barack Obama has been casting the House Republicans as an impediment to progress in often gridlocked Washington.

At the same time, Ryan on the ticket could help Romney become more competitive in Wisconsin, a state Obama won handily four years ago but that could be much tighter this November.

In recent days, conservative pundits urged Romney to choose Ryan in large part because of his authorship of a House-backed budget plan that seeks to curb overall entitlement spending and changes government health insurance for the elderly and poor into a voucher-like system to save costs.

Romney fuelled the buzz around Ryan on Thursday, telling the NBC network that he wants a vice-president with "a vision for the country, that adds something to the political discourse about the direction of the country".

Several Republicans took that as an indication that Ryan had shot to the top of a shortlist said to include Ohio senator Rob Portman and former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty. Neither of those Republicans had plans to be in Virginia on Saturday.

The Wall Street Journal, in an editorial on Thursday, praised Ryan as a strong choice for Romney.

"The case for Mr Ryan is that he best exemplifies the nature and stakes of this election," the paper said.

"More than any other politician, the House budget chairman has defined those stakes well as a generational choice about the role of government and whether America will once again become a growth economy or sink into interest-group dominated decline."

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