I almost feel sorry for the guy. One week on the ticket and Mitt Romney has already managed to turn Paul Ryan into a man of weak conviction. He's now mini-Mitt. A guy who carries an etch-a-sketch in his briefcase so that whenever a previous policy position becomes inconvenient, it can just be changed, on a moments notice, to accommodate the politics of any given situation at any point in time.
Here is the Romney campaign's response to the Todd Akin fiasco:
"A Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape."
Paul Ryan does not believe in an exception for rape - legitimate, forcible, or any other variety. He doesn't. Everyone knows that. Mitt Romney surely knew that when he picked him as a running mate. Why must Romney make a rape exception the Romney-Ryan position? Why can't it just be the Romney position du jour? Why does he have to embarrass and diminish Ryan by forcing him to be a spineless, pandering twit in Romney's image?
Apparently Romney didn't get the memo that the Republican party will now treat everyone with dignity. He just robbed Ryan of his dignity. His just made it very clear that for the next two and and a half months, Ryan is not allowed to have opinions or morality of his own. Ryan will now be what Romney is. He will believe what Romney believes, which can and will change, at any time, without notice, as circumstances warrant.
Romney claims he picked Ryan because he is a "leader". But he doesn't want a leader, he wants a sycophant. It looks like he got one.