memeorandum: Ayn Rand Joins the Ticket (Jane Mayer/News Desk)

12:40 PM ET, August 12, 2012

Top Items:

5 keys to understanding Paul Ryan — Paul Ryan has vaulted to national fame over the past three years—as a slogan, not as a person. — “The Ryan budget” can make conservative hearts flutter, or make liberals sputter with indignation. But the author of this document has remained …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Taegan Goddard's …

Noam Scheiber / The New Republic:

The Psychology of the Ryan Pick — My initial reaction to the Ryan VP selection was that there was only one possible explanation: Team Romney believed it was on track to lose, and Ryan allows them to shift blame for the loss onto the party's conservative wing.

Discussion: Brad DeLong, The Monkey Cage and The Spectacle Blog

BuzzFeed:

Ryan Skips Florida, Will Focus On Great Lakes States — A division of political labor. And an open political question of how the Ryan Budget will play in the Sunshine State. — Image by SAUL LOEB / Getty Images — CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will part ways until …

Discussion: Riehl World View and The Buzz Florida Politics Feed

ABCNEWS:

Sunday on ‘This Week’: Tim Pawlenty and David Axelrod — Following Mitt Romney's selection of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as the Republican vice presidential nominee, Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod and former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty speak with George Stephanopoulos …

Discussion: Politico

Emily Bazelon / Slate:
Paul Ryan v. Sarah Palin

Discussion: Althouse, Firedoglake, The Peking Duck and The Moderate Voice

John Parkinson / ABCNEWS:
How Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan Tricked the Press

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Riehl World View

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Romney rolls the dice

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Ricochet Conversations Feed, The New Republic, The Lonely Conservative, American Power, The Other McCain and Patterico's Pontifications

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
It's Paul Ryan's Party: With Romney VP Pick, Movement Conservatives Openly Control GOP at Last

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Balloon Juice, Boston Globe, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Reaction, Paul Krugman, CANNONFIRE, The New Republic, Talking Points Memo, Taylor Marsh, The Caucus, Mother Jones, Politico, Slate and The Daily Beast

Niall Stanage / Ballot Box:
In Ryan pick, echoes of Obama's own selection of Vice President Biden

Discussion: NO QUARTER and Jammie Wearing Fools

Ross Douthat:
Why Paul Ryan? — I did not think that Mitt Romney would choose …

Discussion: New York Magazine, National Review, Real Clear Politics, p m carpenter's commentary, AEIdeas, Balloon Juice, The Huffington Post, NationalJournal.com and Mediaite

Noel Sheppard / NewsBusters.org blogs:
CNN's Candy Crowley Claims Some GOPers Think Ryan Pick ‘Some Sort of Ticket Death Wish’

Discussion: RealClearPolitics Video Log, Weekly Standard and Sense of Events

Major Garrett / NationalJournal.com:
Obama Team Salivates Over Ryan Pick

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, ThinkProgress, The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Mother Jones, Politico, Booman Tribune, Erick's blog and Liberal Values

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
A Risky Rationale Behind Romney's Choice of Ryan

Michael Barbaro / The Caucus:

Romney Team Hints at More Openness on Ryan's Tax Records — DULLES, Va. — A top aide to Mitt Romney said that the campaign had obtained “several years” of income tax returns from potential running mates - suggesting that Representative Paul D. Ryan had produced tax returns for a greater number …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Outside the Beltway, Applesauce and The Reality-Based Community

BuzzFeed:

Romney Campaign Examined Tax Returns Of Potential Veeps — “Several” years required, Myers says. Romney has released just two years of returns. — Image by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images — Mitt Romney's presidential campaign requested “several” years of tax returns …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Hinterland Gazette, Daily Kos and US Politics

Matthew O'Brien / The Atlantic Online:

Mitt Romney Would Pay 0.82 Percent in Taxes Under Paul Ryan's Plan — Paul Ryan's plan is a path to prosperity for Mitt Romney — Under Paul Ryan's plan, Mitt Romney wouldn't pay any taxes for the next ten years — or any of the years after that. Now, do I know that that's true. Yes, I'm certain.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Booman Tribune, New York Times, The Agonist, BuzzFeed, Connecting.the.Dots and Daily Kos

Paul Ryan / CNN:

Romney fund-raising jumps after V.P. roll out — (CNN) - Following the roll out of his vice presidential pick, Mitt Romney's fundraising numbers got a Republican enthusiasm-fueled boost. — On Sunday, Andrea Saul, Romney's campaign press secretary, wrote on Twitter that fund-raising …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Mashable! and Washington Examiner

Jane Mayer / News Desk:
Ayn Rand Joins the Ticket

Discussion: Firedoglake, Reuters, The Hinterland Gazette, The Huffington Post, Prairie Weather, We are respectable negroes, The PJ Tatler, Politico, DownWithTyranny!, The Reaction and The Daily Beast

Alec MacGillis / The New Republic:
Why Ryan Makes Romney's Tax Problem Even Worse

Discussion: Zandar Versus The Stupid, Off the Charts Blog, News Desk, The Hinterland Gazette, Obsidian Wings, Rational Irrationality and Prairie Weather

A.B Stoddard / Pundits Blog: Opinion: With Ryan pick, a new Romney

CNN:
Romney forced to backpedal after thorny Virginia endorsement

Discussion: The Impolitic and Politico

Candice M. Giove / New York Post:

Bronx pol's secret F'book page with staffer boytoy — She's a real swing voter. — To constituents, she's Naomi D. Rivera, a mild-mannered, bespectacled Bronx assemblywoman whose social-media page is dotted with her accomplishments, thoughtful sayings and the latest neighborhood news.

Discussion: The Other McCain and Jammie Wearing Fools

New York Times:

Racial Profiling Rife at Airport, U.S. Officers Say — BOSTON — More than 30 federal officers in an airport program intended to spot telltale mannerisms of potential terrorists say the operation has become a magnet for racial profiling, targeting not only Middle Easterners but also blacks, Hispanics and other minorities.

Discussion: The Caucus, emptywheel and theGrio

Josh Margolin / New York Post:

Why Christie not picked as Mitt's VP — New Jersey's Chris Christie was high on Mitt Romney's list but refused to resign as governor in order to run, a Romney insider told The Post. — But Christie seems to have no ill will. He endorsed the duo, saying Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan understand the nation's …

Discussion: GOP 12 and New York Magazine

New York Times:

Opinion: Extreme Weather and Drought Are Here to Stay — BY many measurements, this summer's drought is one for the record books. But so was last year's drought in the South Central states. And it has been only a decade since an extreme five-year drought hit the American West.

Discussion: Daily Kos