Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Top Republicans Predict Speaker Ryan Will Be GOP Pick



Top Republicans Predict Speaker Ryan Will Be GOP Pick
Speaker Paul Ryan (Photo by Drew Angerer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
By Cathy Burke   |   Monday, 04 Apr 2016 12:16 PM
Top Republicans are reportedly sticking to predictions that House Speaker Paul Ryan will wind up as the party's presidential pick at the Cleveland nominating convention.

According to Politico, one unnamed source with a "enviable prediction record" this election cycle gives the Wisconsin lawmaker a 54 percent chance of becoming the party's standard bearer.

The GOP source argues he came to the figure after predicting a 60 percent chance of a convention deadlock in July — and a 90 percent chance that delegates then turn to Ryan.

"He's the most conservative, least establishment member of the establishment," the Republican source tells Politico. "That's what you need to be."
And Monday afternoon, the Huffington Post revealed that billionaire political activist Charles Koch is also pushing a Ryan candidacy.

Koch has told friends if Donald Trump comes up at least 100 delegate votes short of the 1,237 minimum to secure the nomination, Ryan would be a solid choice.

A source told the Post the Koch brothers support the agenda Ryan is chasing as House speaker, a position he took over last October after John Boehner retired.

The general counsel for Koch Industries, however, told the Post the report was "completely false."

"Let me be clear, we never have advocated for a specific candidate in a presidential primary, and we have no plans to do so now," Mark Holden said.

Politico reports Ryan is "more calculating and ambitious than he lets on," and "is running the same playbook he did to become speaker: saying he doesn't want it, that it won't happen."

An unnamed Ryan friend tells Politico Ryan's speech last month about raising the tone and tenor of politics hinted as much.

"That was somebody who was laying out the speech that, in most cases, you'd give six months before you announce you're going to run — when you're going around the country, raising money for your leadership PAC," the source tells Politico.

Still, Ryan pushed back hard on the prospect Monday.

"People put my name in this thing, I said, 'Get my name out of that,'" he tells Hugh Hewitt on his radio program Monday, Politico reports.

"This is — if you want to be president, you should go run for president. And that is the way I see it."

Meanwhile, Fox News political commentator Juan Williams declares "Ryan and [Donald] Trump are on a collision course."

In a commentary for The Hill Monday, Williams argues if contender Sen. Ted Cruz can beat the front-runner in Wisconsin on Tuesday, odds "go way up" that Trump cannot win the 1,237 delegates needed to claim the Republican nomination, leading to an open convention that would choose the nominee.

And the man who will preside over negotiations at an open convention is Ryan's friend and fellow Wisconsinite, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, Williams writes.

"The real game here is a long-term effort to get the nomination into the hands of a mainstream Republican," Williams writes. "Party elders want someone who will not damage the party's candidates running for the Senate and the House, as well as for state offices."

"But first they have to keep Trump from winning the nomination outright before the convention," he adds. "Once that is done, the backrooms of the Cleveland convention will be a playground for the anti-Trump forces."

Paul Ryan
Paul Ryan is a member & speaker for the U.S. House of Representatives, a house member for the Wisconsin congressional delegation, a member of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, was a guest at the Koch Industries annual conference, and a recipient of "Defender of the American Dream" award from the Americans for Prosperity.

Note: National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is a paid for staff by the Economic Policy Institute.
Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Economic Policy Institute.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Economic Policy Institute, the Aspen Institute (think tank), and the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Koch Industries is the sponsor for the Koch Industries annual conference.
Mark V. Holden is the SVP & general counsel for Koch Industries, and the president & COO for the Koch Companies Public Sector.
Charles G. Koch is the chairman & CEO for Koch Industries, and is David H. Koch’s brother.
David H. Koch is Charles G. Koch’s brother, the EVP for Koch Industries, a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), the chairman for the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, and was a donor for the Americans for Prosperity.
Richard H. Fink is the EVP & director for Koch Industries, a director at the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, a director at the Americans for Prosperity, and the chairman & CEO for the Koch Companies Public Sector.
Americans for Prosperity Foundation is an affiliated group with the Americans for Prosperity.
Koch Companies Public Sector is the lobbying arm for Koch Industries.
Koch Industries is the sponsor for the Koch Industries annual conference.
Paul Ryan was a guest at the Koch Industries annual conference, a recipient of "Defender of the American Dream" award from the Americans for Prosperity, is a member & speaker for the U.S. House of Representatives, a member of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, and a house member for the Wisconsin congressional delegation.
WI congressional delegation is the delegation for the State of Wisconsin.
Ron Kind is a house member for the Wisconsin congressional delegation, and an honorary co-chair for the Third Way.
William M. Daley is a trustee at the Third Way, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.    
Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory A-Z (Past Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
James S. Crown is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the vice chairman for the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Lester Crown is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).  
Reynold Levy was an advisory board member for the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a trustee at the Third Way.
William D. Budinger is a trustee at the Third Way, a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and married to Zoe Baird.
David H. Koch is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), Charles G. Koch’s brother, the EVP for Koch Industries, the chairman for the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, and was a donor for the Americans for Prosperity.
Zoe Baird is married to William D. Budinger, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Rebecca M. Blank was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and is the chancellor for the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Donna E. Shalala was a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a chancellor for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is a risk committee member for the Risky Business Project.
Michael R. Bloomberg is a co-chair for the Risky Business Project, and the founder of the Bloomberg Family Foundation.
Bloomberg Family Foundation was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank).  
David H. Koch is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), Charles G. Koch’s brother, the EVP for Koch Industries, the chairman for the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, and was a donor for the Americans for Prosperity.
Koch Industries is the sponsor for the Koch Industries annual conference.
Paul Ryan was a guest at the Koch Industries annual conference, a recipient of "Defender of the American Dream" award from the Americans for Prosperity, is a member & speaker for the U.S. House of Representatives, a member of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, and a house member for the Wisconsin congressional delegation.

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