Why Ryan Hid Behind Shades, Crept Through the Woods

Jason Bourne, eat your heart out. Paul Ryan's ascent to VP pick was nearly as clandestine, including a secretive journey through the woods and a surreptitious trip through O'Hare airport, CNN reports. Mitt Romney and longtime aide Beth Myers set the tone by discussing the VP choice only at a secure room in Boston. Finally they chose Ryan and invited him for a meeting—so he slipped through two airports unnoticed in a ball cap and sunglasses, was picked up in Connecticut, and driven to Massachusetts.

"We gave a lot of thought on how to make this work undetected," Myers said. The candidates talked for about an hour at Romney's house, discussing how they would work together if they won and how it would affect their families. But their planned announcement was delayed by a memorial service for the Sikh temple victims in Ryan's home state, Wisconsin. Days later, Ryan sneaked out his back door, crept through the woods, and met a waiting car that took him back to Team Romney. "It's gone from the surreal to the real, I guess," said Ryan. (More Paul Ryan stories.)