House Budget Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) says that he would be willing to "consider" accepting a nomination to be his party's vice presidential nominee.
Fox News host Chris Wallace on Sunday asked Ryan if he would accept the VP slot if the Republican presidential nominee wanted him to be on the ticket to help sell the GOP's controversial new budget that slashes government spending.
"It's not a bridge that I've even come close to crossing," Ryan explained. "It's a decision that somebody else makes and a long time from now. ... I can't answer that question because I haven't given enough thought to that."
"But you're leaving the door open," Wallace noted. "You're saying, 'If I were asked, I would have to consider it.'"
"I would have to consider it," Ryan agreed. "But it's not something I'm even thinking about right now because I think our job in Congress is pretty important."
White House senior advisor David Plouffe on Sunday hinted that the Obama campaign was ready for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney to team up with Ryan.
"If Mitt Romney is the nominee, then this really is going to be the Romney-Ryan plan," Plouffe said of Ryan's proposed budget on ABC.
"He said he's going to rubber-stamp it. ... So the American people have to understand, if Mitt Romney's elected president, he'll rubber-stamp that budget. And here's what that budget is. It fails the standard -- it fails the test of balance and fairness and shared responsibility. It showers huge additional tax cuts on the wealthy ... that are paid for by veterans and seniors and the middle class, so it's not a balanced approach."
