Romney camp took great pains to conceal Ryan VP pick

Mitt Romney, right, with his newly announced vice presidential running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., standing behind him, during a campaign rally in Manassas, Va., on Saturday, Aug. 11.

/ AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

(CBS News) MANASSAS, Va. - The story could have been ripped straight from the pages of a Cold War-era spy novel: There were sunglasses and baseball caps, decoys and back routes through the woods.

As presidential candidate Mitt Romney settled on his running mate, Paul Ryan, his campaign over the course of 10 days went to extraordinary lengths to conceal the information and meetings between himself and Ryan from the eyes of an eager press corps.

The search began not long after Romney wrapped up the nomination. On Apr. 16, he announced that Beth Myers, his senior advisor and a longtime aide, would lead his VP search committee. "I had one directive," Myers said in a briefing with reporters on Saturday evening. "That the candidates must be qualified to take office on day one."

Myers spent the next month and a half soliciting advice from those who had been in her shoes, such as Vice President Dick Cheney and former Secretary of State James Baker. By May 1, the inner circle of advisors created their short list and Romney began calling all of the candidates to ask if they would be considered. None refused.

(Watch: Romney flubs, announces Ryan as "next president of the United States.)

A small team of volunteer attorneys helped Myers assemble the research on the candidates, from policy information to questionnaires each one filled out. The information was kept under lock and key in individual safes in the campaign's Boston headquarters so as not to leak out. That included "several" years of tax returns, Myers told reporters, though she would not specify how many.

By June, Myers was ready to interview the top candidates, and a retreat for top donors in Park City, Utah, provided cover. The short-listers were brought in ostensibly to talk policy with Republican financiers, but also were able to slip away for meetings with Myers.

While Romney was vacationing in Wolfeboro, N.H. during the week of July 4, Myers made the trip north with a few advisors with plans to review the final dossiers. Romney postponed a final decision until after his trip abroad at the end of July, and assembled his top advisors for a final "gut check." Romney then informed Myers of his choice on Aug. 1.

"This is Mitt's decision. He gave me direction every step of the way," said Myers, who said she opted not to share her thoughts with Romney on the advice of an old mentor.

The same day, they placed a call from her office to Ryan to arrange a meeting for Sunday, Aug. 5. Romney had not yet extended an offer.

And with that, the Romney campaign's intricate game of cat and mouse was on.

Four days later, Ryan traveled to Chicago from his hometown of Janesville, Wis., where he flew from to Hartford, Conn. -- both locations chosen to avoid media attention. Having been instructed by the Romney campaign to "dress casually," he wore jeans, a casual shirt, a baseball hat and sunglasses.

In Hartford, Myers' 19-year-old son picked Ryan up at the airport in a rented SUV and brought him to her home in Brookline, Mass., about 100 miles away. A short time later, Romney himself arrived at the house, along with four of his top aides: Ed Gillespie, Matt Rhodes, Bob White, and Spencer Zwick.

While the group entertained itself in Myers' home, Romney and Ryan met for an hour privately in the dining room. When they came out, Myers said, "It was all set."

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[TimeToEvolve]

If I was Robmee I would hide this radical SOB Ryan as well. He's the ultimate reverse Robin Hood. He out slimes Robmee as the Wall Street plastic puppet who wants to steal from the poor to give to the rich.

[harv823]

Ryan says that there is no money for social security, medicare,and medicaid. How can this be when our country just spent BILLIONS on this latest Mars project??

[harv823]

Hi,al-slob,
I do believe that these 1% rich Republicans want to govern our country as an OLIGARCHY.

[Verascity]

Pawlenty said (on ABC this am) that he gave "several years" of tax returns during the vetting process.

Will R&R now release their returns?

If honesty is important for a VP, how much more so for a president?

[fiddlestickawshucks]

Romney just sealed Obama's re-election.!!

If I were Romney, I would have kept my choice for VP a secret too.

He might just as well stop campaigning now.!

Ryan is too much of an extremist.

I'm tempted to not vote in the November 2012 election, because I don't want to be one of the people responsible for putting either one of them in office.

Americans have been hanging on by their fingernails for a couple years now.

By electing either one of them; we are going to lose our grip.

So long America.! It's been good to know you; I'm going to miss you now.!!

[Eugene2012]

Romney has also taken great pains to conceal his past dozen years of federal tax returns from public scrutiny...

[Verascity]

Yet he required that potential running mates produce theirs.

Plus: Dad Romney release 12 years of returns.

[KPeters_from_UK]

tankersmash,

Most of the "failures" you posted do not effect the lives of Americans.

Ouch...Hawaii is in Asia...yep that hurt my stocks!!

Giving DVDs to UK's PM, Brown ...that too sank my income.

Receiving the Noble Peace prize has effected me how?

Securing the Olympics for Chicago in 2016...OH MY GOD...that's horrible!

And then, "Pulling out of Iraq with no clear victory over insurgent forces." That was in accordance with the deadline set up by W Bush.

Naming numerous Communists/Socialists/Progressives to his various Czar positions and then watching them scurry for cover when Beck begins to call them out, forcing them to resign........I have already address, directed to Thy-Almighty-loser as bogus, many times.

[jmn122736]

Headline: "Romney camp took great pains to conceal Ryan VP pick"
---------------------------

Just like concealing his past tax records.

Nobody with the slightest knowledge of Rooney's background can be in the least surprised. AND;----America can expect nothing less from a Romney administration..

Romney has been a con artist all his life and he was born into a family of longstanding, high-ranking, membership in the Mormon Church.

Monism was created in 1830 by Joseph Smith, a professional con artist who was convicted of conning the gullible into hiring him to find lost treasure using a magic glass tucked in his hat.
Smith claimed to have found some golden plates and, by using that same magic glass, he interpreted those plates and wrote the "book of Mormon"

[HuntinFishin]

He has every right to conceal his tax records.

[jmn122736]

The Romney/Ryan team promises to continue the catastrophic cut-taxes-borrow-and-spend policy of the past 3 decades.

They will eliminate virtually all programs that currently assist the poor and elderly, while further increasing the wealth of the ultra rich.

To all who are NOT a member of the ultra rich; ask your self this simple question: Who will provide for your grandparents now, and your parents when they retire.

Before you say "they should save money to care for themselves" remember that your grandparents are probably already too old to be able to save and, with out SS and medicare, just ONE serious age-caused medical problem will wipe out any savings they may already have. That means you will either have to shoulder the expense or let your own parents/grandparents die.

[bbinfla]

"Romney camp took great pains to conceal Ryan VP pick"

If I were Romney, I would have kept on concealing it.


Romney introducing Paul Ryan... "Every now and then, I've been known to make a mistake,"

[harv823]

I'd have concealed Ryan too! He's an embarrassment not only to the Republicans, but to the values that this country was formed by. He wants to take away the RIGHTS of social security, medicare, and medicade. The only RIGHTS he's concerned about are those of the 1% wealthy. He's the Republican party's PUPPET for class warfare in this country.

[peeoui]

If you want to know who is taking aware medicare funding look at Obamacare. Rights don't matter when there is no money to fund it.
It is all smoke and mirrors and then one day this house of cards will collapse.
could you continuously run your household on deficit spending and survive. I couldn't don't know about you

[democracy8]

peeoui: The money from Medicare was against fraudulent claims and abuse of the system, something that EVERYONE should be against.

[KPeters_from_UK]

Thy_Almighty_King,

I know that I have told you there is nothing wrong, in fact it should be commended for posters to provide proof, evidence and facts in order to support you opinions but...BUT.. you have to be careful where you get these quotes from.
The above copy and paste is from The Western Center for Journalism, written by a certain Steve Baldwin. Oh oh. Sweeetie, you might as well have copied and pasted from Ann Coulter. This guy Baldwin is completely crazy. He believes that the Federal government is involved with mass propaganda and "experimentation" taking over the entire school system. He also believes that the government is forcing condoms on school children, encouraging they to have have and have more sex.
If you want to look at how schools are being used for any political agenda look at Texas where Thomas Jefferson isn't even mentioned..why? ..because of his thought s on Religious Freedom.
As for The Western Center for Journalism? Is a tabloid hate media outlet. It continuously writes conspiracy theories. It was one of the biggest sources for Obama's birth mother is Kenyan. Please!!!!