The election season has kicked off in earnest with Mitt Romney's selection of Wisconsin representative Paul Ryan as his running mate and vice presidential candidate.
State and local politicians are reacting to the presidential campaign at a near-feverish pace with just about a dozen weeks until voting booths are filled nationwide. Even casual observers of politics are noticing the ubiquity of political commercials, signs and print ads, seemingly doubling by the day.
Both of Alabama's major parties released predictable statements about the vice presidential nominee.
The Alabama Democratic Party called the Republican ticket "The Go Back Team."
A press release said the choice showed Romney cared about picking a vice presidential nominee "who shares his commitment to the flawed theory that budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthy will somehow deliver a stronger economy."
The statement called Ryan's U.S. House budget "radical" and pointed to his proposed tax cuts of up to $250,000 for millionaires and deep cuts in education funding. "The Go Back Team" is a reference to the ticket's supposed ideological resemblance to that of former President George W. Bush and his vice president Dick Cheney.
The statement also pointed to Ryan's proposed Medicare and health care changes, which the Democrats say would "end Medicare as we know it... shifting thousands of dollars of costs to seniors," though Democrats in Washington also have drastic plans for Medicare.
The Alabama Republican Party and Gov. Robert Bentley had a different take on the matter.
Bentley congratulated Ryan saying, "I believe Representative Ryan will make an outstanding vice president."
He also praised the former Massachusetts governor, saying, "Romney has made an excellent choice. Together, the Romney-Ryan team will bring fiscal responsibility back to the federal government."
Bentley pointed out what many Republicans see as a dire problem, saying, "We cannot continue to spend more money than we have. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will help right-size government while preserving the American dream. I look forward to working with their team and seeing them elected this November."
U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) called Ryan a "great choice" and "one of the finest leaders in Washington."
Sessions is the ranking Republican senator on the Senate Budget Committee and said this has allowed him several chances to see Ryan and understand his expertise and hard work on budgetary issues.
"There's nobody in the country who understands the details of federal government spending and deficits better than Paul Ryan," Sessions said. "That's his area of emphasis and he has done it superbly."
Alabama Republican Chairman Bill Armistead said the pick of Ryan was a "bold choice" and that the Wisconsinite has an immense knowledge of the federal budget and debt.
Armistead said knowledge will be important to build a stronger middle class if Romney wins this fall.
Former Democratic Rep. and Alabama gubernatorial candidate Artur Davis has been tapped as a speaker at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. later this month.
Although the state Republicans praised federal budget and tax cuts, the federal government spends much more money on Alabama per capita than it takes in from the state, according to 2009 numbers from the IRS and Census Bureau.
Alabama ranks near the top of the list for its roughly $2 received for each dollar it gives in tax revenue.
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