(CNN )Mitt Romney on Saturday announced U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his running mate for the White House -- a bold and risky move that energized both conservatives and their opponents.
Ryan is a rising Republican star and the party's leader on fiscal and budget issues. He is the architect of a Republican spending plan that would overhaul many entitlement programs, making him a favorite of conservatives, whose support for Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has been shaky.
But the Romney camp was also quick to put some distance between Ryan's initial budget blueprint and his own.
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"Gov. Romney applauds Paul Ryan for going in the right direction with his budget," the Romney campaign said, "and as president he will be putting together his own plan for cutting the deficit and putting the budget on a path to balance."
