GOP loses Paul Ryan, may pin hopes on Rubio in Contested Convention

April 12, 2016/Andrea Kay

Will Ryan or Rubio be the GOP Nominee in Cleveland?

House Speaker Paul Ryan will announce Tuesday he’s ruling out any chance for the GOP presidential nomination at the convention in Cleveland. Ryan’s name has been circulated as a possible contender in the event of a contested convention against Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz, and Gov. John Kasich.

Paul Ryan has repeatedly said he did not want to be a candidate in the tumultuous 2016 presidential primaries. Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan was Mitt Romney’s running mate during the 2012 general election against Barack Obama. The speaker intends to make a statement at the RNC office in Washington DC later today.

According to Bloomberg, a Republican aide said Ryan is going to end the idea and rumours circulating that he would seek or accept the nomination as a result of an open convention in July.

Ryan has signalled that his current job as speaker deserves his full attention and that the party needs him to work hard to wrangle the agenda and votes necessary for congressional candidates in the fall. The GOP seeks to hold their majority in the House and Senate in spite of a possible Donald Trump nomination.

The so called Republican establishment has floated Paul Ryan’s name as a possible contender if neither of the current candidates can reach the necessary 1,237 delegates to earn the nomination. Ryan has the experience and national spotlight needed to win the votes in a general election against Hillary Clinton. He is respected by rational republicans and has avoided the pitfalls of veering far to the extreme right wing of the party. Sen. Cruz and Donald Trump have attempted to brand the “establishment” as some kind of evil wing of the party set upon destroying the will of the voters.

Ryan has recently brought attention to himself as a possible contender with a recent campaign style video and his trip to Israel to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Ryan demonstrated his strong commitment to Israel in the face of weakening signals from the current Obama administration.

House Speak Paul Ryan would make a strong candidate. All this noise about Ryan could be a clever smoke screen to provide cover for an even stronger candidate, Marco Rubio. The Florida senator and Republican presidential candidate has been laying low, quietly licking his wounds and pondering his next move. Thousands have signed a petition to get Marco Rubio to unsuspend his presidential campaign. Recently, Sen. Rubio took action to hold on to his delegates to keep them out of the hands of his bitter rivals Trump and Cruz.

Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have decimated the Republican party brand with their extreme views and ugly campaign tactics. Cruz pushed Rubio out the race by attacking his rational principles and selling lies about Sen. Rubio’s record. Cruz did this to drive out the most electable candidate out of the race so republican voters would be left with the worst candidates in recent history.

Multiple polls showed that Marco Rubio had the best chance of beating Hillary Clinton in a general election. If Speaker Ryan does in fact not intend to be the eventual nominee, the party could be preparing for a return of it’s most likeable and electable candidate, Sen. Marco Rubio.