Good to have a back-up plan

By Richard K. Barry 

Not only is Paul Ryan running to be vice president of the United States, he is also running for his House seat at the same time. Yes, he can do that.

In fact, as the AP writes:

Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan plans to begin airing ads in Wisconsin as he asks voters to elect him to an eighth House term that he hopes to never serve.

Wisconsin law allows Ryan to seek both offices simultaneously but only serve in one if he wins the pair. His Democratic opponent in the state's 1st District is Rob Zerban, a former county official.

Not that I care overly much, but it does seem wrong. Shouldn't you have to make a commitment to one or the other? For example, I never liked the fact that senators didn't have to step down to run for the presidency, based on the same logic.

In any case, I'm sure Mr. Ryan will have a job of some sort after the November elections.

In a somewhat related story, Michele Bachmann, who took a shot at the GOP presidential nomination while serving as a member of the House of Representatives from Minnesota, may be in danger of failing to win re-election for that seat.

As Salon reports:

Despite her national fan base and a massive war chest, Rep. Michele Bachmann may be in more danger than most suspect, with a new poll showing her lead diminished to just 2 points. Independent voters have swung against her by nearly 20 points in just two months, from a 4 percent advantage to a 15 point disadvantage. The internal poll, conducted by Democratic pollsters Greenberg Quinlan Rosner at the behest of Democrat Jim Graves’ campaign and shared with Salon, shows that Bachmann's favorability rating has tumbled since their last survey in mid-June, and finds Graves gaining ground with independents as his name recognition grows.

Though I would love to see the Dems take this, Bachmann has been immensely entertaining over the years. On that point alone, it would be sad to see her go.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)