Paul Ryan: I'd "consider" vice presidential run
(CBS News) Republican Congressman Paul Ryan left the door open Sunday to running as the GOP's vice presidential candidate, telling CBS' "Face the Nation" that he'd "consider it" if asked.
Ryan, speaking with CBS News' Norah O'Donnell, initially said he was "so focused" on his current job at the moment that a vice presidential bid was "something I'm not even considering right now."
When pressed, however, Ryan said he would "consider" taking the job if asked.
"It's just something I'm not even considering right now," the Wisconsin Republican told O'Donnell initially. "I'm so focused on my job in Congress. If I wanted to be president or vice president so badly I would have run for president. I don't - so I didn't.
"Let's not underestimate how important Congress is in all of this," he continued. "I'm focused on trying to prevent a debt crisis with my job as chairman of the budget committee."
"But you would consider it?" O'Donnell prompted.
"I would consider it. But it's not even something in my mind, because it's a decision someone else makes at a later time. It's a bridge I haven't even gotten close to having to cross," Ryan said. "So in the meantime I think it's important to do my job and give the country a choice and try and prevent a debt crisis from taking down our economy and destroying the livelihood of our children."
