Paul Ryan

THE VILLAGES, Fla. -- It was Mother's Day in August, as Republican vice presidential candidate Paul D. Ryan deftly turned his 78-year-old mom into a campaign prop Saturday, weaving her into an escalating debate over Medicare and using her as a weapon to attack President Obama on the economy. Betty Ryan Douglas, a part-time Florida resident, made her 2012 presidential campaign debut when her son walked her onto an outdoor rally stage at Florida's largest retirement community. “This is my Mom, Betty.  She's why I'm here.

WASHINGTON -- Not letting Paul D. Ryan off easy for his claim of running a marathon in less than three hours, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that if he followed “Ryan math,” his own time running the 1972 Boston Marathon 30 years ago would have almost broken a world record. “I could have made the Olympic team,” said Reid, the Nevada Democrat, as he opened the Senate on Monday. “My time would not have been a world record, but almost.” Ryan, and his campaign team, have repeatedly said the GOP vice presidential nominee was mistaken when he told radio host Hugh Hewitt that he had run a marathon “under three [hours]

The year Paul Ryan graduated from high school, the Winter Olympics were held in Calgary, Canada, Oliver North testified in front of Congress about the Iran-Contra affair, and Michael Dukakis and  George H.W. Bush were running for president. Judging from his high school yearbook, the newly minted Republican vice presidential nominee might have been too busy to pay attention to any of that. The 1988 high school yearbook, “Standing Room Only,” for Joseph A. Craig High School in Janesville, Wis., shows a young Ryan, often clad in an oversized Craig Cougars sweatshirt, posing in photos for the student council, the Latin club, the history club, the letterman's club, the outdoors club and the International Geographic Society.

WASHINGTON -- The Republican running mates, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, agree on most major issues, but present a sharp contrast in background, temperament and outlook. Romney is a businessman who defines himself as a problem solver. His experience is executive, he prides himself on being data-driven and dispassionate about making decisions. He has switched positions on several major issues when that appeared politically necessary. He spent his career outside Washington and at key points in his life - particularly his early move to set up Bain Capital -- he carefully avoided excessive risk.

GOP vice presidential nominee Paul D. Ryan said it took President Obama two weeks to label the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans as “a terrorist attack.” In fact, Obama labeled the incident an “act of terror” during his remarks on Sept. 12 in the White House Rose Garden. “No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for,” Obama said.

GOP leaders are advancing the House Republican budget and its proposed changes to Medicare despite opposition in the Democratic-led Senate by using used a relatively obscure procedural move -- tucking it alongside an unrelated bill that would allow the importation of trophy polar bears. In considering the sportsmen's hunting legislation, the House approved a provision Tuesday that essentially “deems” the budget from Rep. Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) passed, even though the blueprint with its tax breaks and cuts to domestic programs was dead on arrival in the Senate.

Mitt Romney picking Paul D. Ryan as his running mate may have sparked new interest in his campaign and invigorated the Republican base, but more Americans than not have a less-than-stellar opinion of the Wisconsin congressman. A new USA Today/Gallup Poll found that 42% see Ryan as a “fair” or “poor” choice, compared with 39% who rate him as “pretty good” or “excellent.” The only vice presidential nominee who has polled worse following an introduction to the public is Dan Quayle, who in 1988 was seen as “fair” or “poor” by 52% of Americans.

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said Thursday that he would sign off on Paul Ryan's controversial budget plan if elected president. Speaking to reporters in New Hampshire, Pawlenty emphasized, however, that he would offer his own fiscal blueprint in the coming campaign that would be different from the Wisconsin Republican's. "We'll have our own plan. But ... if I can't have that, and the bill came to my desk and I had to choose between signing or not Congressman Ryan's plan, of course I would sign it," he said, according to a transcript distributed by his campaign.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Paul Ryan is already preparing for debate night -- the oratory showdown with Vice President Joe Biden that just might be the one to watch. After his soaring Republican convention speech, Ryan has  been bragging a bit that as a congressman he is well-primed for the occasion. "I'm studying. I'm reading Joe Biden's speeches, reading Joe -- watching Joe Biden tape and just studying on all of the various issues," Ryan said during an interview from Tampa on CNN's "The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer.