As anyone who has seen me in action can attest, I am not the most scintillating public speaker. So I sympathize with Rep. Paul Ryan on that score. Whatever anyone thinks of the content of the President's State of the Union address, who would want to be targeted selected as the fall guy face and voice of the GOP response to any Obama speech?
I'm sure that, just as when Bobby Jindal gave the response to the President's speech to a joint session of Congress in 2009, Ryan probably thought he could amp up the political career he is trying to build around gutting New Deal and Great Society programs with his Roadmap to America's Future. Instead, it's doubtful many Republicans managed to keep their eyes open through Ryan's entire reply. Even if they agreed with every single word of it.
Given two big flops in a row, it's time for the GOP to pick somebody with fire in his gut for the 2012 reply. Somebody with unquestionable passion. Somebody who pulls no punches. They could hardly top Phil Davison. Not a governor, or chairman of a big-deal House committee, Davison ran for the Republican nomination as Stark County (Ohio) Treasurer last year. It's true that he lost that nomination. But Ronald Reagan didn't win the first time out either. In fact, Davison has been out of work for a long time. And yet he has four university degrees. What better way for the Republicans to show empathy for the jobless? What better way for them to bridge the gap between the GOP establishment and insurgent Tea Partyers?
If Davison had delivered Tuesday night's response, nobody would even remember what Obama said. Give the guy a chance.