His running mate choice draws some clear lines with Romney's Democratic opponents over the size of the cuts in Ryan's plan and his prior votes on taxes, which they say favor the wealthiest Americans -- a point of contention in an election in which both sides consider themselves champions of the middle class.
One month after the merger announcement, Robison, Executive Vice President Clarke and a few other execs entered a "clean room, " where 10, 000 decisions about the new company, from what product lines to keep to which pension plan to use, would be made ahead of the merger's approval.