Is Paul Ryan the Hero the Republican Party Needs?

I read a pretty interesting article on Politico about the possibility that the Republican party might choose Paul Ryan as their nominee if Donald Trump does not get enough votes to clinch. That would be within the rules to do and it makes sense that the Republicans would want to nominate someone with more likeability who might have a better chance to beat Hillary Clinton. So it could be that Ryan is the candidate the Republicans need, though I guess it depends on who you ask if he is the candidate the party deserves.

This usurpation seems like it would be something out of House of Cards at first but "One of the nation's best-wired Republicans, with an enviable prediction record for this cycle, sees a 60 percent chance of a convention deadlock and a 90 percent chance that delegates turn to Ryan — ergo, a 54 percent chance that Ryan, who'll start the third week of July as chairman of the Republican National Convention, will end it as the nominee."1

Ryan has quite forcefully denied that he is considering a run for President, saying, ""I’m not for this conversation. I think you need to run for president in order to be president. I’m not running for president, so, period. End of story.”2 That sounds pretty adamant, but at least some people don't believe him. Mike Allen writes that, "Ryan, who's more calculating and ambitious than he lets on, is running the same playbook he did to become speaker: saying he doesn't want it, that it won't happen."1

This could be a good strategy because, like the article mentions, if Paul Ryan acted like he wanted the nomination it would make him less likable. Since the point is to choose someone who wants to be president because he cares about the Republican cause and wants to help improve society, if Ryan seemed like he wanted the nomination for personal gain it would defeat the purpose. So while this demonstrated reluctance is unusual it could be effective. It does seem pretty crazy, but I guess this has been a pretty crazy election, so we'll see.

1. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/paul-ryan-republican-nominee-convention-221522

2. http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/04/paul-ryan-gop-nomination-2016-221520