Most polls show the addition of Representative Paul Ryan to the republican ticket as the vice presidential candidate has been a political shot in the arm for Mitt Romney.
Your Hometown News Leader WDBJ7 pushed and got the only local interview with Congressman Ryan while he was visiting our area yesterday.
We wanted to bring you the story as soon as we got the interview, but the campaign demanded we wait 24 hours before airing any of it, as part of the agreement to speak with Mr Ryan.
WDBJ7's Orlando Salinas sat down with the man who wants to be America's second in command. Orly says it was a fast five minutes.
Paul Ryan, like most politicians, wants to come across as just a regular guy, and on this day he did.
Our photographer helped Mr.Ryan put the microphone on. This reporter made small talk while we waited for the interview to start.
"So I heard you don't like pastries, cake. I'm not a big sweets guy. I like ice cream, I like cheese. Kind of a Wisconsin dairy thing. You're not going to bring that up are you? Cause my wife says "don't say that no one can relate to you!"
Off camera, an aide placed a small tape recorder on the floor between to catch every word said in the interview, and to remind this reporter of the rules, "They budgeted 5 minutes for this but we find that really isn't enough time. So we're going to give you six, but let's be nice about it. Six means six."
This reporter asked Ryan, "If i could, because I know time is tight, do some word association. This is not a moment of 'gotcha.' It really is a moment of clarity and brevity for you."
Mr. Ryan looked a little surprised but agreed, and we began.
"Virginia as a battleground state?" Ryan said, "Virginia is going to be determining the kind of country we're going to have for a long time. People in battleground states, in these tossup states, will make a decision in the direction this country goes. It's a big responsibility and a big opportunity for Virginians."
The next question, coal energy. Rep. Ryan answered, "We have a lot of it, let's use it."
The last thing Ryan and his wife argued about? "We don't really have many arguments. I can't think of anything. Nothing comes to mind," Ryan said.
The United Nations? "We are outsourcing our foreign policy to the United Nations to much. We're giving countries like Russia veto power and it's compromising our leadership around the world," Ryan said.
Global warming? "All the solutions that people like Barack Obama are trying to impose on the American people, cost us jobs, make us less competitive and I think there's a big debate about the scientific veracity of some of the solutions or so-called solutions," Ryan said.
