Students respond to VP candidate

Republican Party presidential nominee Mitt Romney picked Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan as his running mate last month and students have mixed reactions about his choice.

Junior Brian Knodel said he thinks the choice seems beneficial to the party and to American politics because Ryan bridges the gap among Romney supporters.

“He’s an idea man who brings more youthfulness to the ticket,” Knodel said.

Knodel said the relationship between Romney and Ryan is the reversal of the relationship between President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.  He said Romney is older and Ryan is younger, while Obama is younger and Biden is older.

Knodel said he finds Ryan to be a likeable and relatable candidate, and his experience in the U.S. House of Representatives makes him a good running mate.

Sophomore Avi Kleinman said he thinks Romney is only choosing Ryan to secure the vote and appeal to voters he may not have been able to reach otherwise.  He said he sees Romney as someone who will do anything to get a vote.

“I think the election will come down to choosing the lesser of the two evils,” Kleinman said. “The election puts the focus on some of the wrong areas, but we’re all on the same team— we’re all Americans.”

Kleinman, who said he obtains most of his information about the election from National Public Radio, does not agree that Romney’s choice was a good one.  He said if Ryan is elected he will either be a great liaison between Romney and the public, or he will fall into the same pitfalls of the current administration.

“I’d like to see him not get elected,” Kleinman said. “But I do look forward to seeing his learning process. He’ll be in shock for sure.”

He said he has noticed similarities between Biden and Ryan. One in particular is that the two men are constantly in the news for misspeaking, he said.

“They both do not have the best PR,” Kleinman said.

Freshman Shawn St. Amand said voting can either be done apathetically or after researching the candidates. No matter who citizens vote for, he said he thinks it is important they are making informed decisions.

“People who don’t know what’s going on would throw the election off,” he said.

Freshman Andrew King said voting is more significant than people think.

“Voting is very important to me,” he said. “You’re picking who’s running the country.”