Romney Ryan 2012: Romney introduces his running mate Paul Ryan as “the next president” (VIDEO)

Mitt Romney has officially announced that Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin will be his running mate, the Washington Post reported. In fact, Romney jumped the gun, calling Ryan the "next president of the United States" in his introduction. 

As Ryan joined GOP candidate Romney on the podium, Romney threw his arm around his new VP candidate and joked off the flub.

“Every now and then I’ve been known to make a mistake. But I did not make a mistake with this guy,” he said. 

Obama actually made a similar slip-up back in 2008 when he introduced Joe Biden as his VP, the Post pointed out. 

Romney also announced his running mate decision Saturday morning through an iPhone app announcement, the Washinton Post reported. 

According to The New York Times, Romney made the formal announcement of his vice president while touring the battleship U.S.S. Wisconsin early Saturday morning, ending a four month search for the position during a four-day bus tour through four battleground states.

More from GlobalPost: Paul Ryan: Who is Mitt Romney's VP?

Three GOP sources told CNN Sen. Marco Rubio, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Ohio Sen. Rob Portman have all been told that they won't be getting the nod.

The Associated Press reported that even before Romney's team announced that they would announce the vice presidential pick on Saturday, all signs pointed towards Ryan, a seven-term Wisconsin congressman.

Conservative activists view Ryan as committed to their fiscal principles, The Times reported. As chairman of the House Budget Committee, Ryan is the architect behind the House GOP budget proposal.

However, Democrats view him as the driving force behind GOP efforts to cut social spending and entitlement program, and refer to his budget proposal as an attack on the poor, Time Magazine reported.

Obama's campaign manager Jim Messina released an official reaction to the new Republican VP Saturday. 

"This election is about values, and today Romney doubled down on his commitment to take our country back to the failed policies of the past," Messina wrote in a post on BarackObama.com. 

Additionally, Ryan has almost no business experience, which is Romney's critique of President Obama. The Atlantic reported that Ryan is a creature of Washington, a complete politician wonk, which could be a huge liability right now, when public approval of Congress is at all time low.

According to CNN, there are plenty of upsides to a Romney-Ryan ticket. Ryan could energize a Republican base that's often suspicious of Romney.

In an editorial on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal wrote that Ryan would be a strong choice for Romney.

“The case for Mr. Ryan is that he best exemplifies the nature and stakes of this election. More than any other politician, the House budget chairman has defined those stakes well as a generational choice about the role of government and whether America will once again become a growth economy or sink into interest-group dominated decline.”

The Huffington Post's Jon Ward also reported on Romney's choice, writing that while Ryan was a bold pick that could energize the GOP, it also "instantly puts Ryan's budget plan front and center in the 2012 campaign."