Ryan will consider 2016 bid after midterms

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Tuesday he is going to take a hard look at running for president after the 2014 elections. 

Ryan — Mitt Romney’s vice presidential running mate in 2012 — said he is not currently “worrying about my own personal ambitions and career moves.” 

“I’ve decided I will consider this later,” Ryan told the Des Moines Register. “Once I’m through with this term, then I’m going to give a hard look at it.”

{mosads}He is slated to headline Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad’s (R) birthday party over the weekend. Another presidential prospect, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), keynoted the event last year. 

It will be Ryan’s first return to the early presidential nominating state, a testing ground for potential 2016 candidates.

Ryan said he and Romney unsuccessfully ran against the healthcare law in 2012, but the issue will have a larger impact in 2014 now that the public has seen the implementation.

“Mitt and I tried to stop it. We ran against it,” he said. “We didn’t win that election. I think a lot of people are now realizing that they were sold a bill of goods.”

He said the broken commitment that people who like their healthcare plans could keep them under ObamaCare would hurt Democrats at the polls. He specifically referred to Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), who is running for the state’s open Senate seat next year. 

“It’s the Democrats who voted for this law,” he said. “It’s the senators who voted for this law. It’s the Bruce Braleys who voted for this law and made up all these statements and all these claims.”

Ryan also said he would like to see immigration reform addressed by the end of the year. But with GOP leadership saying it is unlikely, the Wisconsin congressman was hopeful the push would continue into 2014. 

“When we get to it, it’s not extremely clear,” he said. “But there are many of us who still would like to see it happen in a step-by-step process before the end of the year. But if that doesn’t occur, we’ll still keep moving for it because, again, the status quo is unacceptable.”