NORFOLK, Va.--Mitt Romney announced Saturday he's selected Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his vice presidential running mate. The announcement came just after 7am ET via Mitt's VP, a mobile application launched by the campaign earlier this month.

According to a statement the campaign released late Friday, the presumptive Republican nominee will appear with his running mate at an 8:45am rally here on the USS Wisconsin--the first stop of his four-day bus tour of key battleground states. The campaign offered no further details, and aides traveling with Ronney declined to comment.

The Romney campaign's confirmation comes hours after multiple news organizations, including NBC News, the Huffington Post, the Associated Press and CNN, cited sources saying Romney would name Ryan--reports the campaign refused to confirm. Early Saturday morning, the site, RomneyRyan.com, began referring to a page on Romney's official campaign website touting "America's Comeback Team."

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio--all of whom were said to be on Romney's short list--were informed late Friday that they were not the pick, according to ABC News's Jon Karl.

Soon after the Romney campaign announced the Saturday appearance, speculation about the VP pick began, with Romney's choice of venue for the announcement offering a potential clue. The USS Wisconsin is the ship named after the home state of Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee who has created buzz among conservatives recently. But the announcement also takes place in Virginia, whose governor, Bob McDonnell, had also been rumored as a possible vice presidential pick.

CNN reported late Friday that Romney phoned several Republicans believed to be on his short list to tell them he had made a pick--though he didn't identify who that person was, nor did the network identify who he phoned. A Romney spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

ebamma: who cares,last time i checked nigeria was not a colony of america so how do their presidential elections concern us.

ebamma: who cares,last time i checked nigeria was not a colony of america so how do their presidential elections concern us.

CarlosVent: Even if he picks Tunde Bakare or GEJ, Barrack Obama will still win him with a wide margin.
Mtchew.

PhysicsQED: Smart choice. Romney must have some competent advisors somewhere in his entourage because I doubt he could have thought of this himself.

Olodostein: May Romney/Ryan win.

Obama is just too phoney; he doesn't have the guts to say what is on his mind, always beating around the bush.

Delafruita:
ryan has been in contention for a while.he campaigned with romney for a week and the 2 seemed to get along very well.as for the choice been smart,its the exact opposite.the aim is to draw blue-collar voters and core conservatives.however,the democrats will shift the focus to ryan's budget which even a far-right man like gingrich criticized.the budget is simply ridiculous and is even worse than gingrich's "contract with america".
i see this move as the worst romney has made.he was been pummeled on all sides and now he picks a VP with a budget baggage

PhysicsQED: That's my point. It's smart. Romney's apparent "moderateness" doesn't appeal to the core conservatives and his extra rich background doesn't appeal to the right demographic. It's not about that budget proposal, which will soon become irrelevant, but about Ryan's appeal.

Olodostein: May Romney/Ryan win.

Obama is just too phoney; he doesn't have the guts to say what is on his mind, always beating around the bush.

Olodostein:
Obama is just too phoney; he doesn't have the guts to say what is on his mind, always beating around the bush.

BizBooks: You don't know Romney then. Romney was once asked in an interview to outline the policies he
will implement as president and he replied "If I tell you, I will lose". This is a true
story. Apart from cutting taxes for the rich, nobody really knows what Romney stands for
because he is keeping it top secret.

PhysicsQED:

That's my point. It's smart. Romney's apparent "moderateness" doesn't appeal to the core conservatives and his extra rich background doesn't appeal to the right demographic. It's not about that budget proposal, which will soon become irrelevant, but about Ryan's appeal.

Tolaaaaannni:
Dude have u even seen his budget plan. His plan to raise defence spending, Medicare cutbacks, Medicade cutbacks, Tax cuts (which basically means eliminating loopholes and deductions so that some people who end up exempt from taxes—including many lower earners—would end up paying something.)e.t.c Its all bad!! I don't know about you, but the vast majority of americans don't want to see cuts in social security or medicare. And that's a FACT!

BizBooks: @PhysicsQED,

Romney used to be a moderate but not anymore. He has reversed all the moderate positions he
took in the past in favour of far right positions. For instance:

He used to be in favour of Gun Control - Not anymore
He used to be Pro-Choice - Not anymore

A true moderate will not pick a hard liner like Ryan as his running mate. He did it to please
the conservative wing of the republican party. That's why TIME magazine called him a Wimp in
their last week edition. He cannot stand up to the bullies of the Tea Party and far right.

PhysicsQED:

If I were a betting man, I'd bet money that we won't hear even a peep out of Paul Ryan promoting his plan when we get close to election time. He'll almost certainly just evade questions about that budget of his. The vice president and his ideas go to the background, naturally, so that's not a huge liability for Romney and the gain in picking Ryan definitely outweighs the risks.

Tolaaaaannni:
No they just don't go to the background because, he is his Running mate. His plans and ideology can be used against romney by his competitor "The obama machine" through Ads. And Ads contribute a lot, if all you see on tv every time is that same ad, it might change your vote.

PhysicsQED:

This is true, but I still think it's not going to be that big a factor for them and that the choice of Ryan was smart in terms of securing votes. I'm skeptical of how many votes Romney would really lose because from undecided voters thinking Romney would try to implement Ryan's budget. I don't think it'll have a really significant effect.

Delafruita:
hmm.the first president to publicly endorse gay marriage doesnt have the guts to say whats on his mind..
a president who stood up for hume despite the embarrasment of her marriage is phoney.

Olodostein: May Romney/Ryan win.

Obama is just too phoney; he doesn't have the guts to say what is on his mind, always beating around the bush.