Sean Lengell The Washington Times - February 4, 2011, 12:54PM

Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, a dapper young rising star in the GOP, said Thursday he won’t run for president in 2012 and shrugged off a question about a possible vice presidential bid.

“Who knows?” he said during an appearance at the Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee when asked about rumors he would make a perfect veep candidate, according to WisPolitics.com. “That is such a hypothetical situation.”

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There also is speculation the 41-year-old lawmaker  — who delivered the nationally televised Republican rebuttal to President Obama’s State of the Union address last week — will challenge Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl in 2012.

But Ryan — who last month became chairman of the powerful House Budget Committee — said that for now he is focused on fixing the budget deficit and lowering the national debt.