Ryan VP Pick Increases Scrutiny of Heather Wilson’s Position on Ryan Budget

Mitt Romney’s choice of Rep. Paul Ryan as a vice presidential running mate adds a new element of intrigue to New Mexico’s U.S. Senate race.

Former Rep. Heather Wilson – the Republican nominee for Senate – has refused for two consecutive years to take a definitive stand on Ryan’s controversial budget blueprints. Wilson’s lack of clarity on the House Budget Committee chairman’s latest spending plan gives her opponent in the U.S. Senate race, Democratic Rep. Martin Heinrich, a consistent line of attack – and attack, he has.

Just moments after Romney’s announcement early Saturday morning, the Heinrich campaign pounced.

“The Paul Ryan budget is an extreme proposal that would end Medicare as we know it, increase health care costs for seniors, and devastate New Mexico’s national labs,” said Whitney Potter, Heinrich’s spokeswoman.  “Now that Ryan could be the next vice president, it is more important than ever for New Mexico to have a senator who will fight back against Republican attacks on seniors and the middle class.”

Here’s what Wilson, who served 10 years in the U.S. House, said about the Ryan V.P. pick: ”Paul Ryan and I served together and I have always found him to be decent, honest and smart. I admire his willingness to put forth bold ideas on the biggest issues facing our nation, even if I don’t always agree with him.  I look forward to seeing Gov. Romney’s plan to address these very important issues.”

Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, has proposed a federal spending plan would turn Medicare into a voucher program and repeal the Affordable Care Act – among other substantial proposals – in the quest for a balanced budget. Supporters of the Ryan budget, including Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., have praised it as a smart, bold proposal to shore up the nation’s finances. Critics have called it a dangerous plan that would gut Medicare and hurt the nation’s most vulnerable populations. The Ryan blueprint would cut projected federal spending by $5.8 trillion over the next decade while reducing the deficit by $4.4 trillion over the same period.

In an interview with me last week, Wilson conceded that she had “concerns” about the Ryan plan but did not say if she would endorse or oppose the budget in its entirety. Wilson did suggest that Ryan’s plans for Medicare might hurt New Mexicans, who rely heavily on the federal health care program for the elderly.

“It’s been a while since I looked at it,” Wilson said. “I think we need to look forward. I didn’t agree with everything in the Ryan plan. I was concerned about some of his approaches to Medicare and I’m always very careful and cautious about programs that are vital to New Mexico.”

Wilson – and other conservatives seeking election in states that aren’t solidly Republican – is in a tough position with respect to the Ryan budget. If she embraces it, she risks alienating some of the independents and even conservative Democrats who would be key to her election in November. If she rejects it, she could hurt herself with the Republican base, which obviously is also crucial to her election chances.

When asked about the Ryan budget, Wilson often pivots to criticism of the Senate’s inability to even produce a budget.

“The senate has not passed a budget in three-and-a-half years,” Wilson told me last week. “I think we need to get a budget out of the Senate that will require working with colleagues in both parties to get a road map to getting our fiscal house in order.”

Wilson isn’t alone in trying to walk a fine line on the Ryan budget. Politico had a good story over the weekend analyzing how Romney’s V.P. pick will affect downballot races. Here’s a key passage from that story: “The reality is that Ryan is now every Republicans’ running mate whether they like it or not, forcing GOP candidates who would just as soon run from the debate over senior citizen entitlements to embrace the third rail of American politics like never before.”