House Speaker Paul Ryan has said repeatedly and in no uncertain terms that he's not interested in running for president in 2016, even if it would save the Republican Party from having to nominate current front-runner Donald Trump.

But a slick campaign-style video posted on the website of the GOP's 2012 vice presidential nominee Thursday could leave reasonable viewers with a different impression.



The ad-like footage features Ryan delivering a speech before a full audience in what appears to be a conference room at the Capitol. Blending quick cuts of the audience members and close-ups of Ryan with an uplifting soundtrack, the message seems clear: When it comes to national politics, I'm the adult in the room.

"What really bothers me the most about politics these days is this notion of identity politics: that we're going to win an election by dividing people, rather than inspiring people on our common humanity and our common ideals and our common culture on the things that should unify us," Ryan says in the video, titled "Politics These Days."



He goes on: "We all want to be prosperous. We all want to be healthy. We want everybody to succeed. We want people to reach their potential in their lives." Those goals should transcend left-right political disagreement, Ryan says, but partisan debate is "no problem. That's what this is all about."

Ultimately, "let's have a battle of ideas," the speaker says. "Let's have a contest of whose ideas are better and why our ideas are better."

Ryan's office didn't say exactly why it released the video, though a spokesman tweeted Thursday night that it wasn't a campaign spot. An introductory statement accompanying the video, meanwhile, suggests the Republican majority believes voters "are sick and tired of hearing politicians battle over insults rather than ideas."

