Ryan sparks free spending by supporters

WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Adding Paul Ryan to the Republican ticket paid off for U.S. presidential hopeful Mitt Romney in the form of a spike in contributions, a campaign aide said.

Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul sent out a Twitter message Saturday announcing the campaign received more than $2 million in the hours after Romney announced that Ryan would be his running mate.

Romney fired off an e-mail blast to his supporters right after the big announcement earlier in the day urging them to pony up $15 each "to help restore America's greatness and build a stronger middle class."

The Hill said despite Ryan's popularity among Republicans, he and Romney will probably not be making any appearances together after Sunday until the GOP convention in Florida at the end of the month.

"It's likely that they will be campaigning on different tracks until we get to the convention," Romney adviser Kevin Madden said Sunday.

Romney and Ryan made a swing through North Carolina and headlined a rally in Ryan's home state of Wisconsin Sunday after which Romney heads to Florida and Ryan stumps at the Iowa State Fair on Monday, The Hill said.

President Obama and the Democrats were also hard at work making financial hay from the Ryan announcement.

The Hill said the Obama campaign rallied Democrats to open their checkbooks to fend off a budget hawk like Ryan, whom one solicitation referred to as "the architect of the Republican plan to kill Medicare."

The campaign reminded Democrats "Election Day is closer than you think" and urged them not to put off adding their contributions to the president's war chest.