Paul Ryan explains why Republicans can still win the 2012 election

Just when you thought the 2012 election was officially over... Move over, Karl Rove. You might not have been willing to accept the verdict of voters on election night, but Paul Ryan'who actually lost the election'is still holding out hope for victory. Actually, he's not just holding out hope: He's convinced that he will win.

Ryan is sticking to his guns. 'So just because the election didn't go our way, that means we're supposed to change our principles? We're supposed to just go along to get along? We reject that view,' he tells National Review Online in an interview at his Capitol Hill office. 'A budget is supposed to be a display of your vision,' he adds. 'Our vision is a world without Obamacare.'

According to Ryan, the GOP's vision for a world without Obamacare has never been in a better position to prevail. Why? Because Obamacare is now being implemented:

'I think it's different now that the rubber is hitting the road with respect to Obama's policies,' Ryan says. 'We ran against the Obama policies before they were implemented. Obama was able to protect them with his rhetoric, but he was never measured against his results. Now, in the second term, they're implementing these things, they're putting details in writing, regulations are coming out, and we're seeing just how different these proposals are than the rhetoric that was used to sell them.'

[...] 'I don't see this last election as the end of this story,' he says. 'I see it as a chapter in this story. A story for the fight over the soul of America, and I believe that the chapter we're entering is one where conservatives have a better chance of triumphing, because the president's actual proposals don't add up and people are going to see that.'

Yeah, that makes total sense. In fact, it's actually a good thing that Chief Justice John Roberts recognized Obamacare was constitutional, because otherwise it would have been blocked, which would have made getting rid of it much, much harder. And it's also good that President Obama himself won reelection in 2012, because otherwise Republicans could have simply repealed it, which would have made it permanent. Makes total sense, right?

And, come to think of it, it was a stroke of brilliance for Paul Ryan to include all of Obamacare's deficit-reduction measures in his budget, including hundreds of billions in Medicare savings, because what better way to undermine Obamacare than to propose keeping it in place?

In all seriousness, Ryan's argument might sound attractive to Obamacare detractors, but it is completely disingenuous. It would be one thing if Republicans were trying their hardest to make Obamacare work, but in most states and with most Republicans in Congress, the opposite is true. GOP legislators on Capitol Hill are busily trying to block essential funds for Obamacare and most Republican governors are doing everything they can to make implementing the law difficult. So despite what Ryan said, Republicans aren't sitting on the sidelines letting Obamacare succeed or fail on its own: They are actively engaged in efforts to wreck it, even after losing the 2012 election. Obamacare is still a battle'fortunately, Ryan's side is still losing.