Jason Stein

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Madison — With the GOP’s presidential nominee sinking in the polls, House Speaker Paul Ryan Friday avoided any direct mention of Donald Trump in a 50-minute event touting conservative values here in the birthplace of some of the nation's most prominent liberal policies.

The Janesville congressman spoke to college Republicans Friday and then took their questions at the Madison Masonic Temple, laying out the case against the policies of Democrat Hillary Clinton even as Trump’s personal conduct comes increasingly under scrutiny.

Ryan called on young, college-educated voters — a difficult demographic for Republicans this election — to turn to conservatism and away from the liberal agenda of President Barack Obama and Clinton, calling their approach the "longest con" and presenting it more as a cynical ploy rather than a misguided program. Ryan focused on the fact that a majority of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track and not on the fact that Obama has positive approval ratings and Clinton is leading in the polls against Trump both nationally and in Ryan's home state.

"Look, I know this election has taken some dark — sometimes very dark — turns. Which is exactly why I think it is so important that we take a step back and reflect on what this election is ultimately about," Ryan said. "Beneath all the ugliness lies a long-running debate between two governing philosophies: one that is in keeping with our nation’s founding principles — like freedom and equality — and another that seeks to replace them."

Poll charts damage of tape to Trump in Wisconsin

News is exploding in the final days of the campaign, with multiple women coming forward to multiple news outlets to claim that Donald Trump groped them without their consent or made similar sexual assaults over his career in real estate and reality television. At the same time, hacked emails from the Hillary Clinton have revealed an inside and sometimes unflattering look at how her campaign sought to use her influence to disadvantage other candidates in the Democratic presidential primary.

As his party's likeliest standard bearer if Trump goes down in November, Ryan sought to navigate between a larger group of Republicans who say they'll vote for Trump to defeat Clinton and a smaller but vocal group who say they must vote for Clinton or Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson. Much is in play: Ryan's slate of GOP House candidates, his own status as speaker in the coming months, the ideas of American conservatives and the course of the country itself.

Democrats said Friday that Ryan is betraying his own ideals by condemning Trump the man but supporting Trump the candidate for his positions on taxes and entitlements.

Trump's Green Bay rally only Wisconsin appearance Monday

Speaking outside the Capitol steps before Ryan's event, several female students denounced Trump, with one saying the businessman has spoken "openly and freely" about using his wealth and influence to prey sexually on women. Trump is trying to turn the debasement of women and minorities into a normal facet of American life, said Natalie Halbrooks, the 20-year-old women's caucus director of the College Democrats of Wisconsin.

"No woman deserves to be talked about and treated this way," she said. "We simply cannot endure this. Not for another minute and certainly not for another four years."

The past week has seen a remarkable clash between Ryan and Trump following the allegations against the GOP nominee. Trump has denied actually grabbing women without their consent — something he claimed that he did in a 2005 video — and dismissed his words on the video as "locker-room talk" that does not reflect his true feelings.

The billionaire will be in Wisconsin on Monday to campaign in Green Bay — Trump canceled a second Monday event planned for West Allis.

In Ryan's speech and a question-and-answer session with students moderated by local conservative radio host Vicki McKenna, the speaker didn't mention Trump by name. Speaking in the birthplace of progressive policies such as unemployment insurance and worker's compensation for those injured on the job, Ryan instead argued that "liberal progressivism" has ceased to serve the nation.

"Time and again, we have been told if we just spend more money, create more programs to live under and more rules to live by, put one more wing on the great palace of government, this will solve all of our problems. Yet after all that, we feel less safe and less secure. Less free and less prosperous," Ryan said. "And that is because liberal progressivism simply does not work."