WASHINGTON — Rep. Paul Ryan, the 42-year-old Republican named Saturday as Mitt Romney’s running mate, is idolized by young conservatives in the House, who see him as a role model and a polished spokesman for their vision of America.
Many Republicans come across as dour budget-cutters with contempt for Democrats. Ryan shares the politics of his conservative colleagues but appears instead as an optimist who relishes the opportunity to debate policy.
Ryan, 42, was elected to Congress at 28, the youngest in his class, and is in his seventh term. He lives with his wife, two sons and a daughter in Janesville, Wis., the river city where he grew up as part of a prominent local family.
He is Catholic and has cited that faith — as well as libertarian author Ayn Rand — as major influences on his political views.
He vaulted to the top ranks of his party and became chairman of the Budget Committee because he knew the ropes, studied the issues and could explain conservative tax-cutting and budget-cutting policies in lucid terms.
It has never been enough for him to attack Democrats and their proposals. He has always been eager to propose and defend alternatives, even at political risk to himself and his party.
He is hardly a typical committee chairman, a role often played in the House by grizzled old men. An avid hunter, skier and mountaineer, Ryan listens to heavy metal and indulges in a grueling fitness regimen. At the House gym, he encourages other members to do the same, as he coaches them on the intricacies of the federal budget.
Ryan is fluent — Democrats would say glib — in discussing the complex details of health policy.
As House Budget Committee chairman, Ryan has proposed huge changes in entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid — changes that would help the federal government predict and control its costs but could shift some costs to beneficiaries and to states.
He would convert the federal share of Medicaid into a block grant, giving each state a lump sum with which to care for low-income people. States would have much more discretion over how to use the money.
To rein in Medicare costs, Ryan proposes to increase the age of eligibility, cap the growth in costs and have the government give a fixed amount of money to each beneficiary to help buy private insurance.
Democrats said the plans would destroy Medicare. Ryan did not back off. He tweaked his proposal. He would preserve the traditional fee-for-service Medicare program as an option but would force it to compete directly with commercial insurance plans.
Some Democrats call Ryan a fiscal phoney. They say by cutting tax rates for corporations and the rich, he would perpetuate the deficit. President Barack Obama recently described Ryan’s budget plan as “an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country” and “thinly veiled social Darwinism.”
Paul Davis Ryan was born in Janesville on Jan. 29, 1970, the youngest of four children of Paul and Elizabeth Ryan. He was 16 when his father died of a heart attack. That is one reason, he has said, for his devotion to physical fitness.
His brother Tobin said, “The death of my father had an enormous impact on accelerating his development.”
Ryan has been quoted as saying that his family received Social Security survivor benefits after his father’s death and that he used some of the money to help pay for college. So, he says, he appreciates the value of the program.
The Washington Post contributed to this report.
