Only a few weeks ago, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced Wisconsin senator Paul Ryan as his running mate. Now he will campaign with Ryan in hopes of securing the White House in November.

“I think he chose Ryan largely to appeal to the conservative base and to make the budget deficit one of the primary issues,” said DePaul University political science professor Phillip Stalley. “I think that’s where the Republicans feel they can best attack Obama because of the $16 trillion budget deficit that we have. Ryan is obviously known as somebody who’s a budget man.

“He helps excite and activate the base…also possible that he adds a little excitement in terms of thinking down the road. He’s very young and he appeals to younger people. He’s a VP that I’m sure many Republicans could imagine someday running for president.

“It’s hard to know what his role might be after a Romney victory. Biden was known for his experience in foreign relations, and he’s continued to work in that area as well as overseeing the new recovery act. In some ways, it’s hard to predict but I would say it’d probably be working with Congress because of his own background in Congress…I would imagine it would be on domestic issues and probably on issues of the deficit which Romney has made front and center in part of his campaign.”
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