Republicans are looking more and more at House Speaker Paul Ryan for a 2020 run for the White House in a bid to alleviate the bad taste from this year's troubled race,
The Hill reports.
Ryan, who unsuccessfully ran as Mitt Romney's vice-presidential pick in 2012, has consistently said he's not interested in chasing the job of commander-in-chief. But he also insisted he didn't want to be House speaker after John Boehner was ousted — and now is.
Politico said Republicans were particularly impressed by Ryan's recent "State of American Politics" address to an army of congressional interns, which made him look and sound presidential. As well, he is a "national figure" and "fundraising powerhouse."
"With his youth and sunny, Reaganesque message, Ryan could be a formidable White House candidate in four years' time, when the Republican Party may be searching for a safer standard-bearer after the roller coaster ride of 2016," Politico's Scott Wong writes.
Ryan does appear serious about staying away from all attempts to get him into this year's three-way slug fest between billionaire businessman Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
Earlier this month, he sent a cease-and-desist letter to a group that is trying to
draft him as a Republican presidential candidate.