Paul Ryan to 'values voters': If Obama wins, there's no going back

Speaking at the one of the largest annual gatherings for social conservatives Friday, Paul Ryan's message was a punch to the gut: If you allow President Obama to be reelected, there’s no going back.

“If we renew the contract, we will get the same deal – with only one difference. In a second term, he will never answer to you again,” Congressman Ryan said at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C., on Friday. “In so many ways, starting with Obamacare, reelecting this president would set in motion things that can never be called back. It would be a choice to give up so many other choices.” 

Ryan’s speech – three parts critique of Mr. Obama’s record on issues of faith, foreign affairs, and finances and one part testimonial to presidential contender Mitt Romney’s character – was not just the usual stump speech. It was a pointed appeal to a key element of the GOP base that will have to turn out in force if the Romney-Ryan ticket is to prevail on Nov. 6.

Ryan, Mr. Romney’s vice presidential running mate and a Republican congressman from Wisconsin, spoke to a packed auditorium of some 2,000 attendees, plus a handful of hecklers. The summit is a conclave supported by leading Washington social conservative groups and organized by the Family Research Council.

Before Ryan took the stage, the crowd cheered mightily for declarations by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R) of Minnesota that the Obama administration was soft on terrorists and by House majority leader Eric Cantor (R) of Virginia that Republicans would “stand tall for traditional marriage.”

Ryan wrapped his critique of the Obama administration into one of his most well-received lines – an attack on Democrats for putting too much emphasis on the role of government in American life.

“On the seven occasions I’ve been sworn in as a member of Congress, I have never taken an oath to the government,” Ryan said into building applause. “The oath that all of us take is to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, under which government is limited and the people are sovereign.”

That moment clicked for Mary Anne Krupa of Chicago. “He articulated what people in government work for and about so well,” said Ms. Krupa, who transcribed the line on a sheet of paper. “I understood why Romney picked him.”

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