Political Life just got tougher for Paul Ryan

Rep. Paul Ryan can no longer hide behind his superficial "local boy" image. He's been found out; he lies and isn't the wonk we thought he was. The media spotlight revealed a huckster, who's convention speech will forever be remembered as the most dishonest in history.

His road map depends on job increases and decent pay, two shaky area's that has seen some dramatic ups and downs. If that's what makes Ryan's vision work, and drives his base of support, then voters are amazingly naive or just plain stupid.

Kenosha's Rob Zerban put together an effective campaign, one I hope he repeats in a few years. He's crashed Ryan's gate and if given a chance to debate him, would trash Ryan's purely unworkable ideological budget. The press oddly thinks Ryan is more powerful than ever. Nothing could be further from the truth.

 Here's Sly in the Morning with John Nichols talking about a Zerban press release detailing the final vote counts in Ryan's home town.

  

Ryan's 11-point victory Tuesday was down nearly 20 points from his previous seven wins in Wisconsin's 1st Congressional DistrictA Smart Politics review of Wisconsin election data finds Paul Ryan won his narrowest ever congressional contest in 2012 - nearly 20 points closer than his average victory margin during his previous seven wins since 1998.

Representative Ryan defeated Democrat Rob Zerban by just 11.5 points - down from 29.3 points four years ago when Obama won Wisconsin by double digits.