6 ways Paul Ryan changes the presidential race

The campaign just got more interesting now that Mitt Romney has named the popular yet controversial House Budget Committee chairman as his running mate

Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan
(Image credit: Sara D. Davis/Getty Images)

Mitt Romney and his just-named running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, hit the campaign trail over the weekend, drawing huge and newly electrified crowds. Romney praised Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman who's championed deep spending cuts, as a conservative visionary and poster child of fiscal responsibility. Democrats pounced on the selection, calling Ryan a genial but "extreme right-wing ideologue" whose controversial budget proposal, designed to overhaul Medicare and reduce tax rates for investors, would devastate working Americans while padding the pockets of the rich. How will adding Ryan to the mix change the presidential race? Here, six takes:

1. Romney now has the GOP base firmly behind him

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