Rep. Gerry Connolly Calls VP Pick Ryan an ‘Amicable Radical’

Rep. Gerry Connolly called Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, whom Mitt Romney just chose as his vice president, an “amiable radical” in a conversation with Patch on Saturday.

Connolly, a Democrat representing Virginia’s 11th district, served with Rep. Paul Ryan on the House Budget Committee for two years from 2009 – 2011.

“[Rep. Paul Ryan] has the least experience and he is the most radical,” Connolly said, noting Paul’s relatively young age, 42. Ryan has been a Wisconsin representative since 1999.

Ryan has proposed significant cuts at the federal level in order to decrease the federal debt. Those proposals were outlined in Ryan’s “Path to Prosperity” proposal in March and included reducing individual and corporate tax rates in addition to repealing many of President Barack Obama’s policies.

“This budget reforms the broken tax code to spur job creation and economic opportunity by lowering rates, closing loopholes, and putting hardworking taxpayers ahead of special interests. The pro-growth reforms ensure the tax code is fair, simple, and competitive,” according to Ryan’s plan.

Connolly countered this morning: “As a result we’ll have to gut programs, gut Head Start, gut student loans, gut infrastructure, gut transportation and all the work Congress has done for the past 100 years.”

Romney made a speech Saturday morning in Norfolk officially announcing his selection, who was reportedly on the short list.

 joined Romney and Ryan at this morning’s Romney “Blue state” bus tour campaign stop at the USS Wisconsin; he is scheduled to campaign with Romney on a bus tour across Virginia Saturday.

Connolly also called the announcement “stunning.”

 “This is a Hail Mary pass in the third quarter,” said Connolly. “It’s a last-ditch effort in a losing campaign.”

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about Romney’s VP pick here — and weigh in with your comments.

Mitt Romney will campaign in Manassas Saturday afternoon.