The head of the Atlas Society, an organization devoted to philosopher Ayn Rand’s principles of Objectivism, praised Mitt Romney’s choice of Paul Ryan on Saturday as “great news” and a “huge step forward for the liberty movement.” 
 
 “I think the announcement is great news,” Aaron Day, the CEO of the Atlas Society, told POLITICO. “[T]he influence of Rand on Ryan as it relates to the role and nature of government is a huge step forward for the liberty movement.” 
 
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 Day’s comments come after Ryan distanced himself from Rand’s teachings earlier this year. 
 
 “I reject her philosophy,” Ryan told the National Review in April. “It’s an atheist philosophy. It reduces human interactions down to mere contracts and it is antithetical to my worldview. If somebody is going to try to paste a person’s view on epistemology to me, then give me Thomas Aquinas…Don’t give me Ayn Rand.” 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: Ryan's love-hate with Ayn Rand) 
 
 But Ryan’s disavowal’s come after years of promoting Rand’s books and endorsing her in 2009 as doing “the best job of anybody to build a moral case of capitalism.” 
 
 Even so, Objectivists appear happy with the pick, as they see many of their principles as aligned with Ryan’s. 
 
 “Ryan highlighted the principles of liberty, freedom, free enterprise, and self-determination (all consistent with Ayn Rand’s philosophy). Ryan has always stated that he doesn’t fully agree with Rand’s philosophy (specifically, he is not and has never been an atheist),” said Day in an email. ||||| Two quick thoughts about the selection of Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney's running mate: 
 
 [1] It hadn't occurred to me until I read Jim Tankersley's piece in National Journal that this election is now a war between class warfares. Obama wants the class warfare to be the poor and middle class against the rich, and Romney wants it to be the middle class and rich against the poor. I recognize the sense in which this isn't unusual; the middle class is often the contested turf when Republicans battle Democrats. Still, the selection of Ryan would seem to ensure that this war between warfares will be unusually prominent. 
 
 [2] Paul Ryan is lauded by conservatives as "the real thing" -- earnest, smart, ideologically committed. But, in terms of sheer visuals and atmospherics, won't he strike many Americans as "the fake thing"? A couple of years ago I was watching him on TV, and one of my daughters, who was then around 15 years old and isn't especially tuned in to party politics, walked into the room and, without having any idea who he was, said, "He looks like he's selling something." They used to say that Al Gore's problem was that he was "wooden." I think Ryan's problem is that he'll strike a lot of people as plastic. He calls to mind a robot I dimly recall from the General Electric "Carousel of Progress," which was a big attraction at Disneyland when I was a kid and presumably has long since perished, possibly because the robot in question was so annoying. 
 
 Compare Ryan to Joe Biden, who, whatever his faults, is an undeniably in-the-flesh human being. Biden nicely complements Obama, whom some people find too slick and scripted. (Scripted, God knows, Biden isn't.) Ryan, it seems to me, provides none of that counterweight to Romney. Yes, Ryan comes off as nerdier than Romney, but he doesn't come off as much more human. They seem like two slightly different variants of the classic gladhanding candidate for high-school student-body president. Both would be on the debate team, but the Romney model would also be on the football team, whereas the Ryan model would compete in interscholastic math tournaments. Most kids at my high school didn't especially like either type. They only voted for one of them because there was no alternative. 
 
 Update, 8/11, 12:50 p.m.: After I posted this, I received this tweet: "I think your characterization of Ryan is unfair. Watching videos of him talking to skeptics he comes off charismatically." Could be. And it's true that the video appearance my daughter commented on was a scripted one. I'm pretty sure it was his response to the 2011 State of the Union address: ||||| by Patrick Appel 
 
 Ryan's speech this morning, for those who missed it: 
 
 Bob Wright dubs Ryan a "robot nerd": 
 
 Yes, Ryan comes off as nerdier than Romney, but he doesn't come off as much more human. They seem like two slightly different variants of the classic gladhanding candidate for high-school student-body president. Both would be on the debate team, but the Romney model would also be on the football team, whereas the Ryan model would compete in interscholastic math tournaments. Most kids at my high school didn't especially like either type. They only voted for one of them because there was no alternative. 
 
 Ryan has many flaws, but, if you watch the video above, you'll see Ryan sell Romney much better than Romney sells himself. The GOP's vice presidential candidate doesn't border on inhuman the way the man at the top of the ticket does. Earlier today, Ezra Klein called Ryan "'likable" and a "decent-seeming guy." He warned that "Democrats underestimate his political skills at their peril."
– Reactions are rolling in from the left and right over Paul Ryan as VP pick—some of it predictable, but a few tidbits stand out either for defying political allegiance, unveiling Mitt Romney's strategy, or using a lot of exclamation points: Romney "has decided to try to win the mega states of Florida and Ohio without the help of the favorite sons—Sens. Marco Rubio and Rob Portman, respectively," writes Gerald F. Seib in the Wall Street Journal. And Romney is gambling that "in an election dominated by the economy, he didn't need to pick a running mate with foreign-policy or national-security experience to offset his own shortages in that area." "Ryan has many flaws," writes Andrew Sullivan in the Daily Beast, but Ryan is not (as Ezra Klein called him) a "robot nerd." Watch this video of Ryan's speech today, and "you'll see Ryan sell Romney much better than Romney sells himself." Ryan has dismissed Ayn Rand's worldview as cold and atheistic, but Objectivists seem upbeat about the VP pick, Politico reports. “I think the announcement is great news,” says Atlas Society CEO Aaron Day. “The influence of Rand on Ryan as it relates to the role and nature of government is a huge step forward for the liberty movement.” No real surprise here, but many in Hollywood aren't happy with Ryan's conservatism, reports USA Today. "Romney's VP pick voted against equal pay for women and repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell," tweets Eva Longoria. "We can't go backward." Tweets Michael Ian Black: "Romney/Ryan = same initials as Ronald Reagan. THINK ABOUT IT!!!" See why Politico's Mike Allen says Romney isn't playing it safe.