That escalated quickly.
The Republican movement to draft Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to run for House Speaker enlisted Mitt Romney, Ryan’s former 2012 running mate, Friday afternoon.
Romney confirmed to NPR that he talked with Ryan over the phone, although he was coy about the subject of the call.
“I wouldn’t presume to tell Paul what to do, but I do know that he is a man of ideas who is driven to see them applied for the public good,” Romney said. “Paul has a driving passion to get America back on a path of growth and opportunity.”
Paul mania reached a fever pitch Friday, after Rep. Kevin McCartney (R-CA), widely viewed as John Boehner’s likely successor, dropped out of the race on Thursday.