Ryan says 'not now'

Here is another decision I am not surprised about. Ryan does not want to draw any more attention to himself. His statement of staying in the House where he can be more effective is a smoke screen. Oh well, another one bites the dust.

Rep. Paul Ryan announced Tuesday he is not running for Senate in Wisconsin, confirming what many in the state and within the Beltway expected.

The 41-year-old House Budget Chairman told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Tuesday morning that he would not seek the U.S. Senate seat now held by Wisconsin Democrat Herb Kohl, saying “it would it make no sense to leave where I am right now because I have such a bigger impact” in the House.

“What matters to me is not the title. It’s my ability to impact policy. It would take me, you know, 12 to 16 years in the Senate to get where I am in the House. I don’t want to be in Congress for the rest of my life,” Ryan told the newspaper. “I don’t want to take myself out of this fight, and leave the fight and a leadership role I have at the moment America is going to make up its mind about what kind of country it’s going to become.”

The announcement comes less than a week after Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl said that he would not run for a fifth term.

Wisconsin Republicans told POLITICO Monday that Ryan began reaching out to potential candidates to inform them that he would forgo the opportunity. As the central player in the national debate over entitlement programs and deficit reduction, Ryan ultimately did not want a high-profile Senate race to distract from what’s become his primary mission.

Allies also say he’s been hoping to rise to the top Republican position on the Ways and Means Committee in 2014, whencurrent chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) will be forced to give up the spot because of chairmanship term limits.

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