GLEN ALLEN, Va. (AP) ? Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney wants running mate Paul Ryan to play it safe.

The nations most controversial budget architect, Ryan is often described as the intellectual leader of the House Republicans. But Romneys Boston headquarters ? so far, at least ? seems to prefer that the 42-year-old father of three talks about camping and milking cows instead of the transformational budget proposals that made him a conservative hero.

Ryan wrote a plan to overhaul Medicare as chairman of the House Budget Committee. But he didnt use the word "Medicare" with voters during his first few days on the campaign trail.

But Ryan has been directed to avoid taking questions from reporters who travel with his campaign and to agree only to a handful of carefully selected interviews.

By Terra/AP