Stephen Hayes of the Weekly Standard is reporting that “Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan is strongly considering a run for president,” and that he has been discussing a possible run with strategists for three months. Hayes details Ryan’s public comments where he expressed agnosticism about the current field, his PAC’s fundraising for ads in Iowa “to counter attack ads run against Republicans by the Democratic National Committee,” and his turning down an offer to serve on the congressional deficit committee despite his status as the leading policy thinker in the Republican caucus.
That Paul Ryan is considering a run isn’t surprising, especially to readers of TNR. Jonathan Chait has, of course, been writing about a potential Paul Ryan campaign for months now, and even took time from his well-earned vacation to tweet “Bizarre how many reporters have ignored Ryan's hints.”
Here’s a look at what Chait has written so far:
“Here Comes The Paul Ryan Presidential Campaign” June 3
“Paul Ryan’s Norquistian-Churchillian Foreign Policy” June 3
“Paul Ryan’s Exceptionalism” June 6
“Is Paul Ryan Running?” June 7
“The GOP’s Missing Man” June 14