Ohio Congressional Candidates Come Out Swinging at Paul Ryan

Well, my in-box is filled with emails reacting to Mitt Romney's wonderful, wonderful pick of "zombie-eyed granny starver" Paul Ryan (Thanks, Charles Pierce of Esquire for the description: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/paul-ryan-romney-vp-pick-11562917) as his running mate.

Of course, the Obama campaign was right on it, today branding Romney/Ryan the "go-back team."(To the Bush administration or to 1901, take your pick).

http://www.barackobama.com/romney/ryan/

So were numerous other Democratic and progressive groups.

Among the emails were responses from several of the dynamic women running to oust Republican incumbents. All tied their opponent to Ryan — not difficult to do.

Congresswoman Betty Sutton, who was pitted by the new map against fellow incumbent Jim Renacci in Ohio's new 16th district, was first out of the box.

She said,

Voters may see Romney, Ryan, and Renacci on the ballot, but what they’ll get if they are elected will be nothing but policies that favor the special interests and the super-rich at the expense of hard-working middle-class Americans. Congressman Renacci might think he can hide from the Ryan plan to end Medicare as we know it while giving himself and his fellow millionaires a big tax cut, but voters know better, and this November they will make their voice heard at the ballot box.

Her press release also reminds voters that the extremely wealthy Renacci was recruited by Ryan to run for this seat, ousting John Boccieri in 2010.

Recruited by Congressman Paul Ryan as part of the NRCC’s Young Guns Program, Renacci has been a loyal follower of Ryan’s pro-billionaire, anti-senior agenda. Instead of standing up for middle-class families, Renacci voted to end the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which impacts 11 million American families. According to the National Economic Council, a millionaire, like Jim Renacci, would receive an average tax break of $160,000 under the Renacci-plan.

A little while later, Sharen Neuhardt's campaign released a statement. Neuhardt is running against Mike "Who?" Turner in the new 10th district in and around Dayton. She reminded voters that she supports strengthening Social Security and Medicare, which Ryan's budget would gut, and said,

“Gov. Romney’s decision to nominate Congressman Paul Ryan for Vice President serves to highlight the extreme and harmful policies supported by Rep. Mike Turner. Rep. Turner has voted to support Ryan’s radical budget plan that would end Medicare as we know it, forcing Miami Valley seniors to pay an addition $6,000 per year in healthcare costs. The plan would give tax breaks to Big Oil, companies that ship jobs overseas, and the wealthiest Americans, all while increasing our national debt.

(Among other things, the Ryan budget exempts U.S.-based corporations from paying taxes on overseas profits. Guess where they'll take most of their business!)

Later on, we heard from Joyce Healy-Abrams who is running against teabagger Bob Gibbs in the weirdly gerrymandered district that includes Canton, where Joyce is from.

She too tied Ryan to her opponent, saying,

Today, Mitt Romney chose Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate. This choice is a stark reminder of the stakes in this election. Paul Ryan is determined to dismantle traditional Medicare and my opponent, Congressman Bob Gibbs, has been right there at his side helping him do it. Bob Gibbs has repeatedly voted with Paul Ryan to end Medicare as we know it while supporting big tax cuts for millionaires.

These candidates' statements point to another potential fallout of Romney's Ryan pick. In making exponentially more people aware of what Ryan stands are by raising his profile, the choice of Ryan as VP candidate could make it easier to defeat extremist Republicans in such somewhat swingy districts and return control of the House to Democrats. Ryan embodies the radical right-wing proposals that have created gridlock in Congress and cratered Congress's approval rating. These ladies are on top of it, welding these radical ideas to their opponents. Good going, Betty, Sharen and Joyce!

These are all great candidates to give a little time and money to:

http://www.bettysuttonforcongress.com/

http://www.healyabramsforcongress.com/

http://www.neuhardtforcongress.com/

And I don't want to forget Angela Zimmann who is running against Bob "Who? Latta in northwest Ohio. She hasn't said anything about Ryan yet, but support her anyway:

http://zimmannforcongress.com/