Paul Ryan savior? Not so fast.
by digby
I mentioned the other day that Ryan might be getting a primary challenge from a Tea Party plutocrat and it looks like it’s for real:
Wisconsin businessman Paul Nehlen announced yesterday that he is challenging House Speaker Paul D. Ryan in the Republican primary, saying he’s “had it” with the Speaker betraying conservatives.
“Ted Cruz and Donald Trump have become front-runners in this presidential election cycle because they have dared to communicate an anti-establishment message. They won’t be alone,” Nehlen said. “I will bring the fight straight to one of the most powerful establishment players in Washington, taking him on right here in Paul NehlenWisconsin’s 1st District. Paul Ryan is a career politician. It’s time that career came to an end.”
“Paul Ryan’s embrace of big government spending, his continued support of illegal immigration and imported workers, and his championing of the job-killing trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership betrays me, this district, and this nation,” said Nehlen.
“He’s failed to put America’s security and American jobs first. I’ve had it. We’ve all had it,” said Mr. Nehlen, a successful executive, entrepreneur and inventor who previously donated to Ryan’s campaigns according to reporting by The Washington Times’ S.A. Miller.
As S.A. Miller reported in The Washington Times, the emergence of a viable Republican challenger in the district is the culmination of a months-long recruitment effort by tea party activists who say they were double-crossed by Mr. Ryan when he passed a $2 trillion spending package late last year.
Meanwhile all the GOP establishment types see Ryan as the consensus answer to their little Trump and Cruz problem should it come to that at the convention. Good luck with that.
As the incumbent Speaker of the House it’s highly unlikely that he’ll be ousted in a primary. But as Eric Cantor proved, under the right circumstances anything can happen. As a presidential candidate replacement for Trump and Cruz, the outsider and the anti-establishment extremist, he’s a very poor choice.
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