August 24, 2012 04:45 PM UTC

Tying Paul Ryan Around Scott Tipton's Neck, Part II

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• by: Colorado Pols

An excellent story from reporter Joe Moylan today in (of all places) the Craig Daily Press:

Sal Pace, D-Pueblo, went on the offensive again Wednesday, slamming Congressman Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, for supporting “The Path to Prosperity.”

The Path to Prosperity is the Republican Party’s budget proposal for 2013.

It is more commonly known as the Ryan Budget, after Congressman Paul Ryan who serves as chairman of the House Budget Committee and played a major role in drafting the proposal…

Tipton has twice voted in support of the Ryan Budget.

“Tipton’s multiple votes for the Ryan Budget show he’s lost sight of Colorado priorities in Washington, D.C.,” said Pace during a press call Wednesday. “We have to address the budget. But we have to do so in a fair, deliberate and responsible way.

“The Tipton-Ryan Budget goes against Colorado priorities, and I intend to work, as I did in the state house, in a bipartisan fashion to really address the deficit concerns this country faces.”

There’s really nobody who would tell Sal Pace this is the wrong thing to be doing right now, after Bloomberg reported this week on the results of a new Pew Research poll:

More than seven in 10 Americans have heard of Republican vice president-designate Paul Ryan’s proposal to eliminate traditional Medicare, and among them those who oppose the idea outnumber supporters, according to a poll released today.

The survey by the Pew Research Center found 72 percent of respondents aware of Ryan’s plan to provide vouchers for the purchase of private health insurance, which the Wisconsin congressman has since revised. Of those who have heard of the proposal, 49 percent oppose it and 34 percent support it.

Check out the Pace campaign’s slick use of Google Maps to visually relate the many impacts of the Paul Ryan budget on CD-3 by clicking here. If polling like the above proves accurate, what Democrats have in the Ryan budget is a powerful weapon to wield against just about any incumbent Republican in a remotely competitive district. As one of the most evenly-balanced congressional districts in America, CD-3 is a key bellwether for the success of this message–and a battleground for the proxy presidential fight the Ryan budget represents now, too.

The potential for the Ryan budget to harm Republican congressional candidates around the country in this manner, not to mention the damage it stands to do to the Romney-Ryan ticket if properly capitalized by Democrats, is one of the biggest reasons why we were from the outset and remain confounded by the choice of Ryan as the vice-presidential nominee.

Thanks to Ryan, it’s a very different election than it was just a few weeks ago.