Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 12:34 am
When GOP strategist Kristen Soltis suggested that Paul Ryan be named person of the year, Bill O’Reilly responded by mocking her and saying Ryan couldn’t even carry his own state.
Here is the video from Media Matters:
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Soltis argued for Ryan by saying that he wasn’t that big of a deal in the presidential race, but, “He is the one guy here in the US who’s really trying to put together ideas for how we solve these long term fiscal problems that countries around the world are facing. How are we going to deal with these long term entitlements?”
This was too much BS for even Bill O’Reilly to handle. In a moment of angry white man blames the failed VP candidate lucidity, Bill-O said, “Ryan hasn’t accomplished it yet. If Ryan were to accomplish the things that he wants to accomplish. Bring the federal budget under control and get the two parties together to get a responsible budget then he would without a doubt be person of the year, but he hasn’t. He couldn’t. He couldn’t even carry his state. Kristen, he couldn’t even carry his state.”
Soltis said Ryan shouldn’t be blamed for not carrying Wisconsin, and O’Reilly said that’s why he was on the ticket. They needed a state like Wisconsin.
This little exchange perfectly demonstrated the Republican Party’s problem. They actually have strategists like Kristen Soltis, who are living in a fantasy land where the crushing defeat of the Romney/Ryan ticket had nothing to do with Paul Ryan. In fact, Ryan should be nominated for person of the year. Hell, Mitt Romney almost became president. He apparently didn’t lose because of his ideas either. So why don’t we have co-persons of the year and award it to both Romney and Ryan.
Despite being overwhelmingly rejected, most Republicans still think that their policies aren’t the problem.
The Republican delusion is running so deep that Bill O’Reilly may be more in touch with post election reality than the people who are paid to guide and run GOP campaigns.
This little fact goes a long way towards explaining why Mitt Romney and so many of the members of his own party thought they were on their way to a landslide victory when anyone with a set of eyes could see momentum building towards an Obama win.
Start printing those Ryan 2016 bumper stickers, because it looks Republicans have learned absolutely nothing from the 2012 election.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
