Big scoop in horserace news: Rep. Paul Ryan, fiscal superhero from Wisconsin, seems set to endorse Mitt Romney imminently:
I have no doubt Rep.Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) will soon endorse Mitt Romney. It’s no secret they have cooperated and consulted on entitlement reform. Their tax plans are similar. They both extol the virtue of an opportunity society. They have spoken with admiration for one another. (Just this week, Romney on Jay Leno described Ryan as "creative.") But there is now a more compelling reason for Ryan to speak up.
Thursday, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus released a statement, which read in part: "The RNC’s Presidential Trust, chaired by Congressman Paul Ryan, is now fully funded, putting Republicans one step closer to winning the White House in November. I want to thank Congressman Ryan, who has been instrumental in this effort, for his outstanding work." A Ryan spokesman declined to comment when I asked if an endorsement was in the offing.
It was Ryan's role as head of the Trust which, he repeatedly has said, prevented him from weighing in on the presidential race. With that duty completed, he now has every reason to endorse the presumptive frontrunner, with whom his hopes to enact his Path to Prosperity rest.
Given that Romney has been the most receptive candidate to Ryan's budget plans -- recall Newt Gingrich, who referred to the Path to Prosperity as "right-wing social engineering" -- this seems a natural fit for his endorsement. And now that fellow GOP rockstar Sen. Marco Rubio has cast his lot in with Team Romney, a Ryan follow-up endorsement could help seal the deal for the erstwhile frontrunner.
Stay tuned for further developments as this story unfolds...