Janna Ryan

[DainBramaged]

Janna Ryan, thrust onto the national stage this weekend when her congressman husband Paul Ryan was named the Republican vice presidential nominee, strikes an appealing image as a stay-at-home mom raising three young children in Wisconsin.

But the 43-year-old has been a Washington operative herself, hailing from a well-connected family and forging an early professional career as a congressional aide and healthcare lobbyist.

Friends describe her as being able to navigate between different worlds -- from small-town Oklahoma and Wellesley College, a private women's college outside Boston that she attended, to complex policy debates in Washington.

"She is very comfortable in and around politics. She grew up in a political family, and it comes very naturally to her," said Leslie Belcher, a Washington lobbyist who worked on Capitol Hill with Ryan and was later one of Ryan's bridesmaids.

During her first public test, Ryan appeared at ease on Saturday as Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney introduced her husband at a tightly orchestrated event in Norfolk, Virginia, with the retired battleship USS Wisconsin as the backdrop. She beamed alongside Mitt Romney's wife, Ann Romney, both polished with blonde hair.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/08/12/usa-campaign-romney-janna-idINL2E8JC3QH20120812

[MADem]

1. She comes from Blue Dog roots...

Her family has strong Democratic connections, and largely identify with the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of Democratic lawmakers known for being fiscally conservative.

Her uncle, David Boren, served as a Democratic governor of Oklahoma and later as senator from the state. Boren's son, Dan Boren, is a member of House of Representatives and as a Blue Dog Democrat, has often voted with Republicans.

After college she worked as a legislative aide to former Oklahoma congressman Bill Brewster, who was a co-founder of the Blue Dog Coalition.

While in that job she worked on transportation and healthcare issues and attended George Washington Law School at night, earning her degree in 1998.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/08/12/usa-campaign-romney-janna-idINL2E8JC3QH20120812

Maybe she has a relative or two with a good story to tell...

[progressivebydesign]

2. that explains why she shut Paul down and went on the attack at the Labor Day parade.

Guess she thought that hubby couldn't handle it himself.

[progressivebydesign]

3. Oh but Ryan is an "outsider" who never ever wanted to come to D.C., right Mitt? nt

[madinmaryland]

4. Wow. What a pair of Washington Insiders. They would make the Capital Gang Proud!

[alp227]

5. NYT has a profile of Janna Ryan today.

"For the Ryans, a Union Across Political Lines"

(Janna Little) was from a prominent Democratic family and dabbled in liberal causes during her college years at Wellesley, even once taking a road trip to Washington to march for women’s rights.

Mrs. Ryan is a lawyer and a tax specialist who, before her marriage, worked for prestigious government affairs and accounting firms as a lobbyist, representing some of the biggest names in a range of industries, including Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Novartis and Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

“This is not a Matalin-Carville relationship,” (former Oklahoma Republican Rep. Tom) Cole said, referring to the political commentators Mary Matalin and James Carville, a married couple on opposite sides of the political spectrum. “It was never a matter of partisan warfare. Paul is more ideological, and Janna is a more practical conservative. She is very pragmatic in her thinking.”