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Download Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's selection of Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate could dramatically shift the race for the White House into a debate between two sharply contrasting views of government spending and debt and its role in the daily lives of Americans. In choosing Ryan - a budget hawk whose provocative plan to reduce government spending has won him fans in the conservative Tea Party movement and made him a target for Democrats - the typically cautious Romney took the biggest gamble of his year-long candidacy on Saturday. He has embarked on a high-risk, high-reward strategy of aligning himself with Ryan, whose budget plan would cut taxes and restructure Medicare, the popular government-backed health insurance program, and other safety-net social programs to try to inspire investment and rein in runaway government spending. Democrats say Ryan's plan would amount to draconian cuts in programs that help protect the nation's most vulnerable people. Democrats - whose platform focuses on middle-class tax cuts, higher taxes for the wealthy and a healthcare overhaul that requires most Americans to buy insurance - already are blasting Romney for picking Ryan, and vowing to cast Romney as an enemy of programs that benefit the poor and elderly. The potency of such an argument by Democrats - particularly in crucial states such as Florida, which has a large elderly population - was clear on Saturday. | 
