From the day that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney chose Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan as his running mate, there has been considerable media coverage both in favor and against the decision.
Meanwhile, Democrats and Republicans celebrated the newly appointed team, as the former consider Ryan to be Romney's Achilles heel for his controversial position on the national budget, while Conservatives believe that the economy will be what dominates the upcoming debates, a topic that, in their opinion, the congressman handles to perfection to attack President Barack Obama.
Experts and journalists have extensively discussed the repercussions that the Romney-Ryan coupling will have in both political parties, but little has been said regarding its effects on the United States population and particularly on the Hispanic community.
After names like Condoleeza Rice and Marco Rubio were mentioned, Paul Ryan (above) was finally chosen to join Mitt Romney in the presidential elections. Photo from Flickr/Tobyotter (CC BY 2.0)
Recent polls [1] [es] show a general concern amongst some Latinos over the politics that the congressman has promoted, such as cuts to social welfare, health, education, and infrastructure. Nevertheless, broadly speaking, the Hispanic population does not appear to know much about Ryan [2] [es].
Antonia Ortiz's (@susopiniones [3]) tweet confirms these polls, claiming that Ryan does not have a favorable image in the Hispanic community.
Your opinion of Paul Ryan? Unfavorable 41% Favorable 30% Never heard of him 16% No opinion 14% http://bit.ly/qLLeMK [4] # [5]mrx [5] #latino [6] #romney [7]
Me temo que el presupuesto de Ryan refleja más los valores de su filósofa favorita, Ayn Rand, que el evangelio de Jesucristo”, dijo [Thomas J.] Reese, sacerdote jesuita y miembro de jerarquía del centro teológico Woodstock de la Universidad de Georgetown, en alusión a la autora de La rebelión de Atlas, una defensora a ultranza del individualismo. “La supervivencia de los más aptos puede estar bien para los darwinistas sociales, pero no para los seguidores del evangelio.
Meanwhile, Alana Moceri's blog [9] [es] believes that to have Ryan as Romney's running mate pleases the Republican base:
Básicamente, es un guiño hacia la base conservador[a] del Partido Republicano, quienes han estado poniendo cada vez más presión en la última semana…Ryan es un congresista de Wisconsin más conocido por su plan de presupuesto muy conservador que presentó en 2008 ‘Roadmap for America's Future Act of 2008 and commonly referred to as The Ryan Budget’. Es un plan de presupuesto detestado por los Demócratas por sus recortes a programas sociales, incluyendo una sustitución de Medicare por un sistema de vales—veremos los Demócratas destacar eso bastante. Es por eso, que Romney le ha anunciado como el “líder intelectual” del partido”.
Other tweets remind the Hispanic population of the quite derogatory terms that Ryan supposedly used throughout his career in Washington, as Analyze This (@AnalizeThis [10]) describes:
@AnalizeThis [10]: #Ryan [11] used term #AnchorBabies [12] to describe US citizens born to #Latino [13] parents http://bit.ly/P9NgCu [14]
Finally, Marco A. Nuñez Yuren (@Marco_NY23 [15]) shows his dissatisfaction about the Ryan choice, since, according to Nuñez, the only way to have won the Hispanic vote was to choose Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who was also put forth as one of the candidates for the vice-presidency:
@Marco_NY23 [15]: Mitt Romney cometió un error al elegir como compañero de boleta a Paul Ryan. Creo Marco Rubio de FL era mejor opción. Voto hispano vital.