THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

And it is a most dangerous one for the Republican Blunderkind. Much like during his failed run with Mitt Romney, he can no longer fade back into the shadows when he reaches the limits of his ability.

Rep. Paul Ryan was elected speaker of The House of Representatives Thursday, replacing John Boehner, who was nudged into retirement by a combative cadre of hardline Republican conservatives that he couldn’t control or satisfy.

That job now falls to Ryan, R-Wis., a blue-eyed, buffed, politically-savvy 45-year-old policy wonk from Janseville, Wis., who was Republican Mitt Romney’s vice presidential running mate in 2012.

"It’s not until you hold this gavel, stand in this spot, look out and see all 435 members of this House - as if all America is sitting right in front of you," Ryan said in his acceptance speech. "It’s not until then that you feel it: the weight of responsibility, the gravity of the moment."

Ryan received 236 votes to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s 184 votes. Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., who had the endorsement of the hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus before Ryan entered the race, received nine votes while former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., and Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., each received one vote.

The 62nd House speaker in the nation’s history was a reluctant candidate for speaker. He initially told colleagues that he would be more than content to remain chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.

But he heeded pleas from colleagues who argued that he was perhaps the only person who could repair a deeply-divided and dysfunctional House Republican conference.

"He did not seek the office," Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., chair of the House Republican Conference, said in nominating Ryan on the House floor. "The office sought him."

Unless Lyin' Ryan has started to believe his own press clippings, the remarks of McMorris0Rogers may be true. Why would someone seek an office that will shine a harsh light that will reveal all his flaws in its glare.