Prior to the Chris Christie “bridge-gate” scandal, the New Jersey governor was the front-runner to become the Republican presidential nominee in 2016.

According to Real Clear Politics, an organization which tracks polls, five polls from November and December found Christie leading all potential candidates by an average of six percentage points. But now that Christie has been embarrassed, a significant void has been left where the front-runner once stood.

For the well-being of the Republican Party, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) should fill that void. Out of all the big-name Republican candidates that have received media speculation as potential presidential candidates for 2016, Ryan is the most impressive intellectually.

I say this because Ryan displayed the rhetorical ability to defend his positions during nationally televised debates when he ran for vice president in 2012. In addition, Ryan is Head of the House Budget Committee, which passed a significant budget deal in December.

Ryan’s intelligence is a key attribute because the GOP of recent years has been riddled with presidential candidates that, quite frankly, have not always come across as overly intelligent to the public. Think George W. Bush, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Herman Cain, Rick Perry, and Donald Trump. Now I’m not personally attacking these people as less than intelligent individuals, but their actions and communication deficiencies prevented them from getting their points across.

These faults made the GOP look really bad at the national level. Therefore, at least in terms of presidential politics, the GOP would be wise to distance itself from some of these candidates. And now that things have been put in perspective, Ryan’s intellect looks a little more impressive than perhaps it did at first glance.

Ryan may hold political views that are out of the mainstream, but he’s able to defend these views through largely intellectual, rather than emotional or populist appeals.

Ryan’s record as a Congressman proves his work ethic as well. At a time when members of Congress have become notorious for spending absurd amounts of time reaching out to potential election donors and engrossing themselves in the permanent election cycle, Ryan has kept his nose to the grindstone and emerged as the GOP’s leading policy wonk.

The one concern area I have with Ryan on the issues is with regards to the environment. While I don’t think this would necessarily prevent Ryan from being elected, unfortunately he appears to be yet another Republican that just doesn’t take environmental issues seriously.

Whether or not this is politically costly yet is debatable, but it is morally indefensible with the scientific evidence we now have for any politician, Democrat or Republican, to not at least take environmental issues seriously. However, if Ryan does come around on these issues, he would undoubtedly be the Republican’s best candidate at this point in time.

While Ryan has not yet announced himself as a candidate for 2016, he also has not ruled himself out. When asked about a potential bid in Des Moines, Iowa in November, Ryan answered rather cryptically, “I’ve decided I will consider this later. Once I’m through with this term, then I’m going to give a hard look at it.”

While there is obviously no guarantee he will run, one would imagine Ryan would be more dismissive of the possibility if he was not at least strongly considering the possibility.

And it’s quite possible that the Christie scandal could provide Ryan with the necessary incentive to make the leap.

Ethan Demers is a senior political science and history major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at [email protected].

Published on January 29, 2014 at 2:16 am