Ryan says Democrats’ time ‘came and went’

Paul Ryan, a hero to conservatives and lightning rod for Democrats, accepted the Republican nomination as Mitt Romney’s vice-presidential running mate, saying the moment for President Barack Obama’s Democrats “came and went”.

Ryan’s speech on the second day of the storm-shortened Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, was a debut of sorts for the 42-year-old congressman from the midwestern state of Wisconsin.

Though a leader on budget policy in congress, Ryan was not well-known outside Washington when picked by Romney this month.