Republican candidate Mitt Romney on Saturday announced U.S. Rep Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his running mate for the White House.
Ryan is a rising Republican star and the party’s leader on fiscal and budget issues. He said he is overwhelmed by the reaction to the announcement that he is Romney’s running mate.
Ryan is the architect of a Republican spending plan that would overhaul many entitlement programs, making him a favorite of conservatives, whose support for Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has been shaky.
His running mate choice draws some clear lines with Romney’s Democratic opponents over the size of the cuts in Ryan’s plan and his prior votes on taxes, which they say favor the wealthiest Americans – a point of contention in an election in which both sides consider themselves champions of the middle class.
Information from CNN contributed to this report.