In the Romney campaign, let the blame game begin

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Seems Romney's people are already preparing to distance themselves from their boss should he lose in November:

Mitt Romney appears to have picked Paul Ryan as his running mate over the objections of top political advisors, offering a glimpse at the leadership style of the Republican nominee in the most important decision of his campaign.

Romney's aides have stressed publicly in the 24 hours since Romney electrified conservatives with his choice that the pick was the governor's alone. They have been less forthcoming on the flip side: That much of his staff opposed the choice for the same reason that many pundits considered it unlikely — that Ryan's appealingly wonky public image and a personality Romney finds copasetic will matter far less than two different budget plans whose details the campaign now effectively owns.

"Everybody was against [Ryan] to start with only Romney for," said one top Republican, who is skeptical of the choice and griped that Romney's top advisors have "been giving Mitt everything he wanted in this campaign."

Which is to say, if it doesn't go well, it was Romney's fault all along.

On to 2016! Are Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal, or Chris Christie hiring yet?