I have not been commenting much about the election, for a couple of reasons:
1.) Certain bloggers do a much better job at framing the issues and putting them in context than I do. Walter Russell Mead is one of them.
2.) When the choices were between no discernable plan, and a horrible plan, there isn't much constructive I could think of saying.
I saw this Tom Woods speech from a Libertarian gathering in Dallas, wherein he suggests that it is important to carry the torch of liberty through our blogs, and that, in the face of the dilemma that someone's always going to outblog you, he said simply 1) to blog about what you are reading.
So, in that vein, I now blog about 2) Walter Russell Mead's article following the announcement of Paul Ryan as presumed VP nominee for the R party.
I think he frames the election going forward pretty well. It is a relatively deep red vs. deep blue, now.
Before, Romney had no plan other than not being Obama. Paul Ryan is "instant plan". Just add water. The most important thing Romney accomplished was to facilitate the debate over big government vs. small. It's already more than many of us had hoped for this election cycle.
We can leave aside the obvious shortcomings of Ryan's plan (willing to live with 3% deficits forever, voted for TARP), and recognize that there actually may be someone in politics with a functioning calculator, and hopefully a big eraser. That can be counted as a victory as far as I'm concerned, and a step away from the brink.
