Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) speaks after being announced by Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as his running mate in front of the USS Wisconsin August 11, 2012 in Norfolk, Virginia. Ryan, a seven term congressman, is Chairman of the House Budget Committee and provides a strong contrast to the Obama administration on fiscal policy. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Reflecting on the 2012 presidential election, and the loss that he has labeled a “foreign experience,” Rep. Paul Ryan believes that President Obama’s re-election was due in part to the large voter turnout in “urban areas.”
In an interview with a WISC-TV reporter, Ryan said, “I think the surprise was some of the turnout, especially in urban areas, which gave President Obama the big margin to win this race.”
Ryan added, “There’s always an Electoral College strategy to winning these things, and you know what states you need to win to get to 270 electoral votes. When we watched Virginia and Ohio coming in, those as tight as they were, and looking like we were going to lose them, that’s when it became clear we weren’t going to win.”
Ryan repeated the same “urban area vote” narrative in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel when he was asked if the the loss meant that voters had rejected the Republican vision.
The former GOP vice-presidential nominee said, “Well, he got turnout. The president should get credit for achieving record-breaking turnout numbers from urban areas for the most part, and that did win the election for him.
In his bid for reelection, President Obama won Ryan’s home state of Wisconsin, and Massachusetts, where Mitt Romney was governor.
