Well, now. This makes things much more interesting. From The Detroit News without further comment:
Romney picks Wisconsin's Ryan as running mate
BY KASIE HUNT ASSOCIATED PRESS
U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin is expected to be named Mitt Romney's vice presidential running mate. (Getty Images)
Norfolk, Va. — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney tapped Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his vice presidential running mate for the fall campaign on Saturday, turning to the architect of a conservative and intensely controversial long-term budget plan to remake Medicare and cut trillions in federal spending.
Romney made his announcement to supporters via a phone app.
"Mitt's Choice for VP is Paul Ryan," it said and implored backers to spread the word.
The ticket-mates arranged their first joint appearance later in the morning at a naval museum, first stop of a bus tour through four battleground states in as many days.
In a statement issued Friday night, Romney's campaign said only that the running mate would be present at 9 a.m. EDT at the Nauticus Museum. The USS Wisconsin is berthed there — offering a hint about Ryan's selection.
Ryan's selection — as well as Romney's own nomination — will be ratified by delegates to the Republican National Convention that begins on Aug. 27 in Tampa, Fla.
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden will be nominated for a second term at the Democratic convention the following week.
At 42, Ryan is a generation younger than the 65-year-old Romney.
His conservative credentials are highly regarded by fellow Republican House members, while numerous polls found that Romney's own were suspect among the party's core supporters during the primaries of winter and spring.
A seventh-term congressman, Ryan is chairman of the House Budget Committee, and primary author of conservative tax and spending blueprints that the tea party-infused Republican majority approved over vociferous Democratic opposition in 2011 and again in 2012. [read the rest here]