James Pethokoukis

At a reporters breakfast meeting with Rep. Paul Ryan today, Ryan spoke mostly about the budget. (He says the GOP version will deal with entitlements.)

He veered into some 2012 territory, too. Ryan repeated that he will not run for president next year, but added that he didn’t think it served the party well to merely nominate the “next person in line.” Most analysts would say that person was Mitt Romney. That does not mean Ryan opposes Romney. Ryan might think Romney would be a fine candidate — but should not get the gig just because he arguably was the 2008 runner up.

But then again Ryan made a few cracks about Romney’s signature public policy achievement, healthcare reform in Massachusetts. He said it was  not “dissimilar” from Obamacare and was heading into a financial “death spiral.” Ouch.

If Romney were to win the nomination and pick Ryan, you could end up with a weird situation where Obama and Romney would support the Massachusetts plan, with Ryan opposing. Politics is a strange business, but I don’t see how that one would work. Then again, finding conservatives who like Romneycare isn’t easy. So where would Team Mitt find its veep?

Photo: U.S. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI). REUTERS/Jason Reed