Paul Ryan can’t go anywhere these days without someone scrutinizing his every syllable.
Less than two weeks after President Barack Obama visited Reddit, the Republican nominee for vice president jumped onto social question-and-answer site Quora Monday morning to answer a softball question that echoed a famous Ronald Reagan quote (and a sponsored hashtag recently purchased on Twitter): “Does Paul Ryan think America is better off now than four years ago?”
“As a result of President Obama’s misguided policies and failed leadership, we are not better off today than we were four years ago,” wrote Ryan, whose six-paragraph response focused on jobs figures and promoted the Republicans’ Plan for a Stronger Middle Class. (A Mitt Romney campaign spokesperson confirmed to the Daily Dot that it was indeed Ryan who answered.)
“Everyone who feels stuck in the Obama economy is right to focus on the here and now. And I hope you understand this too: if you’re feeling left out or passed by, you have not failed, your leaders have failed you.
President Barack Obama came to office during an economic crisis. Any fair measure of his record has to take that into account. The problem remains that the recovery he repeatedly promised is nowhere in sight. The Obama Administration has made its choices. And Mitt Romney and I have made ours: before the math and the momentum overwhelm us all, we are going to solve this nation’s economic problems and get America back on track.”
Almost as soon as the congressman hit the Add Answer button, commenters jumped into the fray to pick apart Ryan’s reponse.
Jamie Beckland, a media strategist, took the congressman to task over what he called “baseless attacks” made at the Democratic National Convention last week.
“Could you please provide citations of the baseless attacks you claim? http://www.politifact.com/ is a credible source for whether political statements are true or false, and the Democratic convention, overall, received higher marks for truthfulness than the Republican convention (and your speech in particular).”
Dan Holliday expanded on that criticism and called Ryan out over apparent hypocrisy in making “baseless, unsubstantiated attacks” in regards to his statement about college graduates being unable to find work.
It’s not the first time the vice-presidential nominee has taken to the Q&A site. Ryan popped in to a few threads in 2011 to answer questions about his Medicare budget and the Greek economy.
At the time of writing, the question Ryan answered had been viewed by 1789 people. Meanwhile, President Obama’s live interview on Reddit roped in almost three million views.
Photo by cletch/Flickr
