By now everyone knows that Mitt Romney’s new running mate, Paul Ryan, is a big fan of Ayn Rand. But would Ayn Rand have been a big fan of Paul Ryan?

Given her views of Ronald Reagan, I suspect not:

I urge you, as emphatically as I can, not to support the candidacy of Ronald Reagan. I urge you not to work for or advocate his nomination, and not to vote for him. My reasons are as follows: Mr. Reagan is not a champion of capitalism, but a conservative in the worst sense of that word – i.e., an advocate of a mixed economy with government controls slanted in favor of business rather than labor (which, philosophically, is as untenable a position as one could choose – see Fred Kinnan in Atlas Shrugged, pp. 541-2). This description applies in various degrees to most Republican politicians, but most of them preserve some respect for the rights of the individual. Mr. Reagan does not: he opposes the right to abortion. (Ayn Rand Letter IV.2, 1975)

What do I think of President Reagan? The best answer to give would be: But I don’t think of him – and the more I see, the less I think. I did not vote for him (or for anyone else) and events seem to justify me. The appalling disgrace of his administration is his connection with the so-called “Moral Majority” and sundry other TV religionists, who are struggling – apparently with his approval – to take us back to the Middle Ages, via the unconstitutional union of religion and politics. (“Sanction of the Victims,” 1981; in The Voice of Reason)

How much enthusiasm, then, could she have for another anti-abortion pro-corporate statist in libertarian camouflage?