Eighteen days ahead of the election, he hammered Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan, telling a crowd of more than 1,200 people at Lincoln Park Academy in Fort Pierce that Romney and Ryan suffered from a case of “Romnesia,” a reference, Biden said, to shifts in their positions.

Recent polls showed an increasingly competitive race — especially in some swing states.

Biden set out to draw clear distinctions between the campaigns on the economy, job creation, taxes, Medicare and Social Security.

He told supporters that Romney had written off 47 percent of the electorate, a reference to the surreptitiously recorded remarks Romney made during a private fundraiser in Boca Raton earlier this year.

Biden said he and Obama would offer middle class Americans better choices for their future.

“We win Florida, we win the election,” he told the crowd in Fort Pierce.

Biden will continue his swing through Florida on Saturday.

Romney and his wife, Ann, were expected to campaign in Florida this weekend.

Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama were expected to attend campaign events in South Florida on Monday and Tuesday.

– @AlexSanz

MIAMI — One year after the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that barred openly gay and lesbian service members from serving in the military, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) said in an interview with FLDemocracy/WPTV NewsChannel 5 that the controversial policy should not be reinstated.

“Now that it’s done, we should not reverse it,” Ryan told FLDemocracy/WPTV NewsChannel 5 during a visit to Miami. “I think that would be a step in the wrong direction because people have already disclosed themselves.”

Ryan was one of 160 Republicans and 15 Democrats in the House of Representatives to vote against the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” in 2010.

“I talked to a lot of good friends of mine who are combat leaders in the theater and they just didn’t think the timing of this was right to do this when our troops were in the middle of harm’s way in combat,” Ryan said. “I think this issue is past us. It’s done. And, I think we need to move on.”

The comment came after progressive groups criticized Ryan, the vice presidential candidate, for an appearance at the 2012 Values Voters Summit and accused him of being “out of step” with the views of young Americans.

During the interview, Ryan, who spoke with FLDemocracy/WPTV NewsChannel 5 in August, again made the case for the reform of Medicare as a premium support program.

“Mitt Romney and I are saying don’t change it for current seniors [or] for people 55 and above,” Ryan said. “The best way to reform if for my generation is to give us a plan like we have in Congress: a list of guaranteed coverage options including traditional Medicare. Medicare subsidizes your premiums — more for the poor and the sick and the middle income taxpayers — less for the wealthy.”

The renewed push for reform — a popular message on the campaign trail — came hours after Congress went into recess after it passed another stopgap measure to fund the government for six months.

Ryan, who last year agreed to the sequester — automatic, across-the-board cuts to defense and domestic spending triggered by the failure of a bipartisan super committee to cut federal spending — defended his vote and blamed President Barack Obama for the current budget crisis.

“The President is the one who insisted on these devastating defense cuts as part of that budget deal in the sequester. We never liked it. We proposed solutions. We passed a bill to prevent the sequester. The president has done nothing,” Ryan said. “He seems complicit with the sequester because he’s shown no leadership to prevent the sequester from happening.”

Ryan also weighed in on the surreptitiously recorded remarks the Republican candidate for president made during a Boca Raton fundraiser in May that 47 percent of Americans would vote for Obama because they didn’t pay taxes and depended on the government.

“He was inarticulate in making the point but the point we keep trying to make is, in this stagnant Obama economy, more and more people are falling behind, [are] out of work and [are] becoming more dependent upon government. Our job is to have pro-growth policies that get people back to work, that grow the economy and get people off of subsistence [and] off of welfare back to work,” Ryan said.

“We should not be measuring our safety net programs like food stamps — and their successes — on how many people go on food stamps. Success should be measured by how many people we transition off of the safety net — off of food stamps — into lives of self-sufficiency.”

Ryan said he and Romney would continue to push a five-point plan for a stronger middle class that would grow the economy and create better jobs with higher take-home pay.

“Twenty-three million people are struggling to find work today. Fifteen percent of Americans are in poverty today. That’s the highest rate in a generation. And, it’s not working,” Ryan said. “The big concern I have is more and more Americans are beginning to question whether the American dream is there for them or not. We can’t let that happen. We have to revive the American dream so we can take advantage of the opportunity that has historically been offered people in this country so they can get their lives together.”

During a campaign appearance in Miami on Saturday, Ryan said that a Romney administration would support pro-democracy groups in Cuba and “clamp down” on the island’s communist, Castro-led government, a tougher policy than he says Obama has followed.

Later, at a town hall meeting in Orlando, Ryan derided the Obama administration’s space program, a sensitive subject in central Florida where thousands of jobs have been lost since the end of the space shuttle program last year.

A critical swing state, recent polls showed Obama had a five point advantage over Romney in Florida less than seven weeks before the general election.

– Alex Sanz

Treasure Coast Newspapers

CHARLOTTE — President Obama and Vice President Biden on Thursday night will accept the Democratic nomination for president and vice president at Time Warner Cable Arena.

However, press coverage of Ryan’s age in the days after his addition to the Romney ticket at times presented the Wisconsin congressman as unprecedentedly young for a vice presidential nominee.  While Ryan is young for the office – the median age of vice presidents when they took office is 53 – there have been several young vice presidents. 

For instance, the youngest person ever to serve as vice president was John Breckinridge, who was only 35 when elected and 36 when he assumed the office in 1861.  On the opposite end of the spectrum was Alben Barkley who was 71 when he became vice president in 1949.  Several unsuccessful vice presidential picks were in their forties, and several vice presidents have been in their early or mid-forties.  This includes: Richard Nixon (40); Dan Quayle (41); Daniel Tompkins (42); Theodore Roosevelt (42); John C. Calhoun (42); Aaron Burr (45); Schuyler Colfax (45).

For comparative purposes, Joe Biden was 66 when he joined Barack Obama in the White House in 2009.  When Biden and Ryan sit down to debate in October, the Vice President will be a month shy of his 70^th birthday.  But Ryan brings more than youth to the ticket.

Vice presidents are usually picked to broaden the appeal of the ticket.  This occurs not only from an age perspective – an older presidential candidate might select a younger vice president – but from geographic, ideological, and religious perspectives as well.  In each case, Ryan adds value to the GOP ticket.  Where Romney is older, Ryan is young.  Romney is a moderate and Ryan is very conservative.  Romney lives in Massachusetts; Ryan is from the heartland (Wisconsin). 

Even though Romney’s Mormonism necessitated that he select a mainline Protestant and Ryan happens to be Catholic, his positions against gay rights (marriage, adoption, military service…), abortion, and even birth control will resonate well with evangelicals.  Moreover, conservatives have never liked nor trusted the flip-flopping Romney.  But, Ryan has been a darling of the Tea Party and both the fiscal and social conservative wings of the party. 

Heck, even the names Romney and Ryan, while not exactly “Tippecanoe and Tyler too,” do, nonetheless, sound very good together.  On a personal level, the two men are said to have chemistry and Romney, who is usually awkward on the stump, has appeared to be enjoying himself since his vice presidential pick… to the extent that one wonders whether Paul Ryan is secretly the sixth Romney son!

However, it must be said that Ryan’s positions on Social Security (he pushed legislation to privatize it) and Medicare (he wants to replace it with vouchers) will hurt the Republicans in key states with large senior populations, such as Florida and Pennsylvania.  And, his advocacy of deep cuts in environmental programs, student loans, and social programs that benefit the poor and middle class will require a good deal of spin by the campaign.    

In the end analysis, Paul Ryan is an intriguing and bold pick for the usually cautious Romney.  But, arguably the single most important aspect of the vice presidency is whether the person is ready, in the event of an emergency, to step into the Oval Office on day one.  All analysts agree that Joe Biden was and is ready and a strong case can be made that other possible Republican vice presidential contenders – Tim Pawlenty, Mitch Daniels, Rob Portman – would have fit the bill.  As to Ryan, it remains open to debate.

Robert P. Watson, Ph.D. has published 34 books on American politics and history, and serves as Professor and Coordinator of American Studies at Lynn University (site of the third/final presidential debate of 2012)

In a one-on-one interview with FLDemocracy, the vice presidential hopeful said, unlike President Barack Obama, he and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney are committed to preserving Medicare for future retirees.

“The first thing we have to remember is President Obama raided $716 billion from the Medicare program to help pay for the Obamacare program,” Ryan said.

“He puts [forth] this new board of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats who are required to cut Medicare every year in ways that will lead to denied care for current seniors,” Ryan added. “What Mitt Romney and I propose is to stop this raid, restore that money and get rid of this board that will lead to denied care for current seniors.”

Speaking to a group of mostly senior citizens at The Villages, a retirement community in Central Florida on Saturday morning, Ryan stressed that under the plan he and Romney have proposed, Medicare benefits for the three million-plus people already enrolled in the program in Florida would remain unchanged.

Ryan stressed that he favors a system where future Medicare participants could opt to keep the current program’s structure as one of many options.

“It’s an idea that came out of the Clinton Commission to save Medicare, where future seniors have guaranteed choices, where they have a menu of options to pick from, just like Medicare Advantage works today, or Medicare Part D, including traditional Medicare,” Ryan said referencing a proposal he drafted with U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, (D-OR) last year.

Danny Kanner, a spokesperson for Obama for America, defended the president’s position on Medicare after Ryan’s campaign appearance — charging that the Wisconsin congressman lied about his plan because the details were “politically suicidal.”

“He didn’t say that if he had his way, Medicare would be bankrupt in just four years,” Kanner said. “He didn’t say that they’d turn Medicare into a voucher system, ending the Medicare guarantee and raising costs by $6,400 a year for seniors. And he certainly didn’t say that they’d do it all to pay for tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.”

Ryan took issue with the Obama campaign’s figures, calling them “inaccurate.”

“Those statistics were misleading three years ago when they used them. They’re even more misleading now,” he said. “We need to restore this program because people who have already retired on the promise that Medicare would be there for them. And, that’s a promise we have to keep.”

U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) weighed in on Sunday and said the plan would be “a radical overhaul to a program that has worked so well for so many for decades.”

“At the same time they’re doing that they’re making cuts to Head Start which will impact so many families,” he said. “Ten million students will lose their Pell grants.”

While Romney’s selection of Ryan has rekindled the debate on the entitlement program, the vice presidential hopeful predicted the election would hinge on the economy — something he says Democrats want to avoid.

“President Obama has not offered the kind of leadership it takes to get people back to work, to prevent our deficit from getting out of control — which is hurting our economy,” Ryan told FLDemocracy.

“The president can’t run on his record. It’s a bad record. And, what he’s doing now, is he is running on distraction. On distortions. He’s running a campaign of frustration and anger.”

Stresses Support For Cuban Embargo

During his interview with FLDemocracy, Ryan sought to reassure Cuban-Americans in South Florida that despite voting to lift the embargo against Cuba in 2001 and 2004, he has since changed his position on the issue.

Ryan, who opposed a measure that would have weakened the embargo in 2007, said he and Romney would maintain a hardline against the Communist regime.

Ryan pointed to his friendship with some of Florida’s most prominent Cuban-Americans as evidence of his commitment to seeing an end to the Castro regime.

“One of my best friends in Congress is Mario Diaz-Balart. I’m also good friends with Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. And, I’ve had some great meetings with them — briefings from them — over the last number of years about how important it is to make sure we stare down the Castro regime and we do nothing that helps embolden the Castro regime.”

During an appearance on Miami’s Radio Mambí last week, Romney explained that Ryan changed his position on the embargo after meeting with Diaz-Balart and Ros-Lehtinen.

Says He Would Have Backed Rubio’s Immigration Plan

Ryan, who voted against the Obama-backed DREAM Act and has opposed amnesty for most illegal immigrants, said he supported — but hadn’t endorsed — the immigration reform efforts of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL).

“I’ve been impressed with Marco Rubio’s leadership on this issue,” he said. “Marco Rubio was on the cusp of introducing the bipartisan solution to immigration problems. President Obama preempted that with what many people think is an unconstitutional move and denied the ability to have a bipartisan solution to these legitimate immigration issues that we have to solve.”

Calls NASA “Invaluable”

The seven-term congressman called NASA, which has shed thousands of jobs after the retirement of the space shuttle and the cancellation of its Constellation program, an “invaluable asset to our national security.”

Ryan, who voted against the 2008 and 2010 NASA Authorization Acts, told FLDemocracy he believes in a “robust space program.”

“President Obama has advanced what we think are devastating and irresponsible cuts to defense programs. We want to restore that because we believe in peace through strength. We believe in scientific research. We obviously believe that a robust space program is in the vital national security interests of America,” Ryan said. “Mitt Romney has committed to restoring our national defense which we see as a national security issue including our space programs.”

Ryan declined to say which role, if any, commercial space companies such as Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, would have under a Romney-Ryan administration.

Addresses His Experience

Ryan also took issue with critics who say he and Romney lack foreign policy credentials, telling FLDemocracy, “I have more experience than President Obama did when he came into office.”

“I have been in Congress a number of years. I have voted to send men and women to war. I have been to those funerals. I have visited with our troops overseas in war zones to get their perspective. So, we have that kind of experience,” Ryan added.

Ryan said he and Romney share the same principles and values when it comes to national security and foreign policy.

“We believe in the doctrine of peace through strength. We believe in having a strong military. We believe in strengthening our relationships with our allies abroad. And, making sure that our adversaries know that we have resolve,” Ryan said.

– Alex Sanz

“Paul Ryan is a courageous reformer who understands our nation’s challenges, has proposed bold policy solutions to solve them and has shown the courage to stand up to President Obama and other Washington politicians trying to tear him down. The Romney-Ryan ticket is going to win in November because it offers the American people visionary leadership to recapture the free enterprise spirit that has empowered countless Americans to build businesses from scratch and live the American dream. I’m excited about the visionary change a Romney-Ryan team will bring to Washington, and I look forward to campaigning with them this fall.” — U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio

“The American middle-class and our seniors cannot afford to go back to the failed policies of the past, and it is unconscionable to ask them to foot the bill for the Romney-Ryan scheme. A Romney-Ryan ticket is sure to take us back and repeat the same catastrophic mistakes that got us into the mess we found ourselves in in the first place.” — Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz

“As he did with the Olympics, and so many time in the private sector turning despair into success, Mitt Romney has again used his talents to make the right, critical choice at a critical hour for our nation. Paul Ryan understands the priorities needed to put our nation back on the road to more freedom, less government and renewed prosperity. I have known and worked with Paul Ryan since being elected to the Congress and was outraged time and again when his ideas to move our nation forward were killed by a liberal Senate. Now our party can give him the right platform and a Senate that will no longer be flawed and unworkable. With great pride, we all unite today behind the Romney-Ryan ticket.” — U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV

“I applaud Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his Vice Presidential running mate. Congressman Ryan’s command of economic policy and the federal budget will prove invaluable as Governor Romney fights to reform government, accelerate job growth and rein in the out-of-control spending that has been a hallmark of President Obama’s years in office. This courageous choice is the type of leadership American voters deserve. And, I believe it will ensure a victory for the Romney-Ryan ticket this November.” — Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush

“I congratulate Governor Mitt Romney for making a superb choice in picking my colleague Paul Ryan as his nominee for Vice President. Like few leaders in Washington, Paul Ryan had the courage to put forth a plan that saves Medicare and Social Security. He has a hopeful, optimistic vision for the future of our country, and he’s ready to lead on the important choices we need to make to expand prosperity to all Americans. On the issue close to the Cuban American community, Paul is with us on being firm against the Castro dictatorship. Paul has spent time learning the true nature of the Castro Regime, and unlike the Obama-Biden Administration, which has appeased and emboldened the Castro Regime, the Cuba policy of a Romney-Ryan administration will be clear: no accommodation, no appeasement. A Romney-Ryan administration will place maximum sanctions pressure on the regime and support the brave pro-democracy movement on the island.” — U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen

“The selection of Paul Ryan this morning makes the choice for voters in November even more stark. Allen West has been the #1 champion for Paul Ryan’s Medicare-ending, education-slashing budget in Congress, proudly voting for it twice and saying it would be “suicide” to oppose. If the two of them take the helm in Washington, expect an end to Medicare as we know it and thousands in additional medical costs for Florida seniors.” — Democratic Congressional District 18 Candidate Patrick Murphy

“I am pleased to congratulate my colleague, Congressman Paul Ryan, on being selected to join Mitt Romney on the road to the White House as his Vice Presidential running-mate. As I have always said, I will wholeheartedly support the Republican candidates, and with true fiscal conservative Paul Ryan, on the ticket, I am particularly pleased to do so. Congressman Ryan has a deep understanding of the fiscal challenges facing our nation in both the short and long term. He has consistently provided realistic, actionable solutions that will keep our promises to our seniors while putting our economy back on the “Road to Prosperity.” Unlike President Obama, he put forward a serious budget. The damaging economic policies of President Obama’s administration have left Americans with unemployment at or above 8% for 42 months and they are now facing the largest tax increase in history. His foreign policies have emboldened our enemies and left our allies vulnerable. Our nation cannot afford to continue down this destructive path which seeks to wed more Americans to government handouts, saddles our children and grandchildren with insurmountable debt, weakens our defenses at home and abroad, and turns Americans against each other. President Romney and Vice President Ryan will put our nation back on a course of economic freedom and equality of opportunity for all Americans. The combination of Mitt Romney’s successful record in business and government, and Paul Ryan’s legislative experience and willingness to lead on pressing fiscal problems is just the recipe to get America back on the right path. President Mitt Romney and Vice President Paul Ryan are what we need to begin restoring the greatness of our Constitutional Republic.” — U.S. Rep. Allen West

“In selecting Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney has crystalized the contrast of this election. Ryan is the architect of Romney’s extreme budget plan which would end Medicare as we know it, increasing the healthcare costs for Florida’s senior’s by thousands every year. And both Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney support trillions in budget-busting tax cuts for millionaires paid for with tax hikes on the middle class and deep cuts in education and other investments we need to grow our economy. Both Romney and Ryan share a vision for America where the wealthiest few are prioritized over the middle class, students and seniors — that’s not a vision which will move our state or country forward, and it is a vision which Floridians will whole-heartedly reject.” — Florida Democratic Party Chair Rod Smith

“Mitt Romney chose a strong partner in my friend Paul Ryan. While in Congress, Paul Ryan has worked tirelessly to rein in federal spending and increase accountability for government programs. His conservative ideals and proven track record make him the ultimate choice for Mitt Romney’s running mate and America’s future Vice President.” — Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam

– Alex Sanz

The book, which went on sale on June 19th, cracked The New York Times top ten best seller list in its first week.

“We’ve put a lot of work into the book and I hope the lessons in it will inspire people,” Rubio told reporters. “What I really wanted to do was pay tribute to the American dream. For my family, the American dream was that they would work hard and sacrifice [so] that their kids could do all of the things they didn’t have a chance to do. I know that the reason why I’ve had these opportunities is because I’m an American son.”

Rubio’s book tour comes as speculation continues to grow over whether he will join presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in a challenge later this year to President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

Rubio, who has repeatedly declined to address the issue — even after Romney said the fresman Senator was being vetted by his campaign as a possible vice presidential running mate — focused his conversation with reporters on the economy, immigration and the recent United States Supreme Court decision that upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

“It’s bad for America,” Rubio said. “This is a terrible idea. It’s outrageous. This is a tax. It’s a terrible one that’s going to hurt economic growth and it’s really going to hurt the middle class. And, it’s a broken promise. The president said he would not raise taxes on middle class families. He just raised taxes on millions of people.”

On immigration, Rubio said Obama had politicized the issue and made it harder to solve.

“On the one hand, we want to be compassionate and we understand that there are young people in this country who are undocumented and it’s not their fault, they’ve been growing up here their whole life, they came when they were very young, and we want to figure out a way to accommodate them,” he said. “But, we have to figure out a way to do it that doesn’t reward or encourage illegal immigration in the future and that’s a difficult balancing act.”

On the polarized and often divided environment in Washington, Rubio said Republicans should be willing to compromise with Democrats on ideas but not compromise on their principles.

“I understand the word compromise gets thrown around a lot. Our real goal is not compromise. Our real goal is solution. You have to solve problems,” he said. ” I always get asked that question about compromise. A compromise that is not a solution is a waste of time. It does not good to pass as compromise that has one really good idea that’s cancelled out by one really bad idea.”

Despite the recent attention to health care reform, immigration and some social issues, the presidency, Rubio said, would be decided by the strength of the nation’s economy.

“The number one issue facing America is growth. The economy is not growing. The debate is about how to grow it,” he said. “The president thinks the way you grow the economy is you tax rich people a lot of money and you give it to the government so the government can spend the money. I think the way you grow the economy is you allow people who’ve made money to reinvest that money to grow their businesses or start new businesses. That’s what creates jobs.”

“The president has had three and a half years to put in place policies that grow the economy. And, he has failed,” he said. “Things are not better today than they were four years ago. That’s what this election is about.”

Rubio will tour Florida through Tuesday, July 3rd, before his book tour moves to key battleground states.

– Alex Sanz

“What I take away from last night is what I took away last week — the primary is over,” Rubio said.

During an interview with reporters today in Palm Beach Gardens, Rubio again ruled out interest in being a running mate on the GOP ticket.

“I’m not going to be vice president,” he said. “Mitt Romney … is going to be a great president. I actually think we’re going to have a very good nominee.”

Rubio has been in the spotlight in recent days after he endorsed Romney and fielded calls from within the Republican Party to consider being a part of the GOP ticket.

“He doesn’t say it up the rest of us do,” said Sid Dinerstein, chair of the Republican Party of Palm Beach County. “It’s hard to imagine a better choice for running mate than Rubio.”

Rubio told reporters his focus would continue to be his work in the U.S. Senate.

– Alex Sanz

Sen. Marco Rubio is in South Florida today raising money for MA Sen. Scott Brown, Political Intelligence reports.  Next month, Rubio will travel to Cincinnati to help raise money for U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel.

In an exclusive interview for the upcoming cover story in TIME magazine, Sen. Marco Rubio talks about what the Republican Party has to offer Hispanics, and the need for a more positive GOP message on immigration.  “I think the Republican party has a lot to offer. I think Conservatism has a lot to offer Hispanics – Americans of Hispanic descent. And I do look forward to making that case to them in Spanish. I do look forward to making that case to them without the filter of people telling them what we believe,” Rubio told TIME.

Right in time for the November election, Rubio‘s memoir “An American Son” will be released Oct. 2, The Buzz reports. Rubio signed the book deal with Sentinel, a conservative imprint of Penguin Group, in December.