Staffers of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) are denying recent reports that the Congressman is seriously considering running for president. Leaks, rumors, and speculation abound. On Tuesday, Stephen F. Hayes at The Weekly Standard reported that Ryan "has been quietly meeting with political strategists to discuss a bid" and is currently discussing a prospective candidacy with his family while vacationing in Colorado.

In a radio interview on Friday with Charlie Sykes, Ryan was asked whether he thought any of the current Republican candidates were adequately addressing the "issues of the debt and the deficit and the need to reform entitlements..."  Ryan responded, 

"...I haven't seen it to date. We'll see. People's campaigns evolve - they get better. So we'll see. Look, the way I see 2012 - we owe it to the country to let them choose the path they want our country to take. And I just have yet to see a strong and principled articulation of the kind of limited government, opportunity society path that we would provide as an alternative to the Obama cradle to grave welfare state."

Asked by Sykes whether it was essential that the Republican nominee skillfully articulate these pressing issues, Ryan answered,

"I do. Because this is how we get our country back. We do it through a referendum letting the country pick the path not by having a committee of 12 people pick the path or not by having just the inertia of just letting the status quo just stumble through by winning a campaign based on dividing people."

Ryan, 41, is a charismatic, pro-free-market, constitutional conservative who is fluent in economic matters, among other things. The seven-term U.S. Congressman is chairman of the House Budget Committee and chief author of Roadmap for America's Future, a detailed plan to reduce the federal deficit and salvage Social Security and Medicare. The essence of that plan would be the core of a Ryan campaign.

The shine on Ryan's star dulled a bit during the debt ceiling debate, perhaps because his attention was focused further into the future. Still, he would make a very formidable candidate and Democrats have to be secretly hoping he decides against running.