Paul Ryan Talks with Diane Sawyer About Mitt Romney’s Speech
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Ida Mae Astute/ABC(TAMPA, Fla.) — Paul Ryan says he hopes that when Mitt Romney speaks Thursday night America will “get to meet the man I know” from their time on the campaign trail.
“I hope people get to meet the kind of leader I know,” Ryan told ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer. “We need someone who is going to give us honest leadership, courageous leadership, a man of achievement and integrity. A man you enjoy listening to because he is telling you the truth. That’s the guy I know and that’s what I think America will hear tonight.”
Ryan said he spoke to Romney about his speech Thursday and he’s “excited about laying out his vision” as well as “excited just to introduce himself to the country.”
The vice presidential candidate added that the top of the ticket was “very complimentary” about his acceptance speech Wednesday night.
“‘Great job, you hit it at out of the park,'” Ryan said Romney told him.
An ABC News poll released this week found that only 35 percent of voters under 30 years old supported Mitt Romney, but Ryan, 42, insisted the GOP ticket can make a play for the youth vote, something he referenced in his convention speech, because he sees “younger people” as “more disaffected.”
“There’s a little disillusionment there I think,” Ryan said. “And what we’re offering them is a positive solution, specific reforms to get this economy going so we can turn opportunity back on.”
The country’s debt ticks upward on a clock on the convention floor, but what specifically would the Romney campaign cut in order to stop the ballooning debt? Ryan said the Romney/Ryan administration would cut spending in government agency budgets.
“All of the spending on these government bureaucracies has increased far faster than families’ ability to pay for it, far faster than inflation and it’s all borrowed money… By the way, this isn’t selling pain, this isn’t saying we are taking things away,” Ryan said. It’s all about getting “domestic spending down” and “reforming entitlements,” he said.
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