A funny thing didn’t happen on the way to Paul Ryan’s rousing speech Wednesday night accepting the GOP nomination for Vice President. The Republican ticket hasn’t sunk in the polls, Democrats haven’t nationalized the race around Medicare to their advantage, and seniors haven’t fled Mitt Romney in droves.
All of those outcomes were predicted with utter certainty by the great political sages when Mr. Romney selected Mr. Ryan on that mid-August weekend. Go back to the videotape for the August 12 Sunday talk shows. Many Republicans—some in Mr. Romney’s own campaign—said the same thing sotto voce. (We know who you are.)
So far they’ve all been exactly wrong, as the polls show Mr. Romney having closed the gap against President Obama not only in Mr. Ryan’s native Wisconsin but in Florida, Ohio and Virginia. On Medicare, an issue that Democrats usually dominate, Mr. Romney is battling to a draw at worst and is nearly even among voters on which candidate is most trusted. This hasn’t happened since the dawn of the entitlement age.
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