Earlier this year, with the republican primary still wide open and Paul Ryan's budget in the news, presidential candidate Ron Paul, another Congressman known for his fiscal conservatism and limited government philosophy, told Neil Cavuto that Paul Ryan's budget "doesn't cut anything of substance" out of the exploding federal budget, and merely aims to contain its growth and "maybe balance the federal budget in thirty years."

Paul Ryan is not exactly a "small government" conservative. And he surely isn't an anti-war advocate. Not that anyone expected Mitt Romney to pick a Ron Paul-like VP choice, but Republicans may be underestimating their ability to win the votes of the libertarian-right and independent voters.

