Even King Bill of Bon Temps, Louisiana is more accessible than this

In the mythical creature-land of Bon Temps, Louisiana as set out in the HBO series True Blood, there are hard and fast rules for vampires. Vampires can't enter a human's home without being invited. Vampires are subject to the laws set forth by their sheriffs, who in turn owe allegiance to their king or queen. You have to do some pretty badass stuff to become a vampire king or queen, such as vanquishing an all-powerful Evan Rachel Wood so she can go off and play Kate Winslet's viper of a daughter in Mildred Pierce. But as badass as vampires in leadership roles are in this fictional universe, they're one hell of a lot more accessible to their subjects than Paul Ryan is:

In what appears to be an effort to avoid the free-for-all town halls that have plagued recent contentious congressional recesses, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and other Republican members of Congress have chosen to charge admission to their home-district appearances.



Ryan will speak September 6 to the Whitnall Park Rotary Club in Greenfield, Wisc. Admission to the event is $15 per person and includes lunch.



Ryan has no free public town hall appearances scheduled during the recess.



The last time he held a free town hall, in Milton, Wisc. in April, Ryan was booed while trying to explain his proposal for the federal budget, which included drastic cuts to entitlement and benefit programs. Other Republicans around the country were on the receiving end of similar heat from their constituents. Ryan even had police remove one heckler from a town hall event in Racine, Wisc.



Considering the backlash that Ryan, the chairman of the Budget Committee, faced for proposed financial legislation this spring, it's no surprise to some that he is avoiding open public events during the continued turmoil of the debt ceiling crisis.

Yes, folks, this isn't Bon Temps. When a Congressman faces a high level of public outrage at his legislative proposals, he doesn't have to listen anymore. All he has to do is charge admission to make sure that only those who agree with him are allowed in his presence.

Next!

Now that Rick Perry has only been running for President for 72 hours and has already accused Fed Chair Ben Bernanke of treason and said he could expect some bodily harm if he ever went to Texas, the Money Guys of the Republican Party appear to be already looking out for an alternative to The Mormon, The Beard, and The Cowboy.



The latest name to be floated? This guy:







Yessirree, the Undead Austerity wunderkind himself:

Bill Bennett, from somewhere in the West, e-mailed me: “There are many talented candidates in the race already, but there is always room for a man of Paul Ryan’s intellectual depth, temperament, talent, and conviction.” Bennett and Ryan go way back. In a piece in the Weekly Standard from January, Fred Barnes recounted:

Ryan came to Washington after graduating from Miami of Ohio in 1992 to work for Republican senator Robert Kasten of Wisconsin. When Kasten lost later that year, he recommended Ryan to [the late Jack] Kemp. As Kemp’s assistant, Ryan met the intellectual leaders of supply-side economics, including Larry Kudlow, Art Laffer, Alan Reynolds, and Jude Wanniski. He sounds starstruck in talking about them today.

Bennett says Ryan hasn’t changed. “He was the exact same person then, only younger.” Bennett remembers Ryan asking him, “Dr. Bennett, I’m thinking about running for Congress. Does this pass the laugh test?” Bennett thought it did. Ryan, elected in 1998, still addresses Bennett as “Dr. Bennett.”

It sounds like Dr. Bennett is prescribing a presidential run. Whether Ryan will oblige remains to be seen. But Bennett is on to something: There is still an opening in the field for a conservative Republican with smarts and a broad electoral reach, especially one who has already successfully engaged the president. For those who think President Obama can be beaten on his policies not by personal quips, Ryan remains an attractive figure.

I don't know about you, but if I'm going to vote for a Creature of the Night, it's going to be this one: