Paul Ryan’s Party

Rick Klein: “As surely as it’s President Obama’s Democratic Party until it won’t be, it’s Paul Ryan’s Republican party until it can’t be any longer. The new House speaker made that clear in Obama’s last State of the Union and Ryan’s first as speaker, new poker (and beardless) face and all.”

“Ryan’s choice of South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to deliver the GOP response was borne out by a strong national-debut speech that, notably, took on Donald Trump-style rhetoric (‘angriest voices’) as strongly as it did Obama-style policy. And Ryan took a stand of his own by applauding the president’s call to reject ‘any politics that targets people because of race or religion’ – another clear Trump reference.”

“Coming from Ryan, this is more than the establishment trying to rid itself of Trump. It’s a vision of a future of the GOP, in a House chamber with a different vibe than it had just a few months ago.”