Trey Hardin, a Republican strategist and senior vice president at Vox Global, said that Ryan's Midwestern roots would help the ticket throughout the Midwest - not just in Ohio and Wisconsin, but also in Pennsylvania, a state that has gone to the Democratic presidential candidate in every election since 1992 but some Republican strategists hope could be a swing state this cycle...

Former Republican Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell agreed.

"Paul Ryan will directly take on Obama's attack on religious liberty and America's job creators," he said. "He will move the needle in Ohio with Catholics and social conservatives. Paul's blue-collar background will balance the ticket."