How did America react to Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate?  According to the one measure that literally counts … pretty spectacularly.  The online fundraising for the 24-hour period following Ryan’s addition to the ticket came to $3.5 million, according to the Twitter feed of campaign spokesperson Andrea Saul:

$3.5 million raised online in 24 hrs of @MittRomney's pick of @PaulRyanVP #RomneyRyan2012

— Andrea Saul (@andreamsaul) August 12, 2012

Bear in mind that this is online only.  That’s roughly equivalent to the pace one would see from a month in which the combined Romney/RNC effort raised $105 million, with big-ticket fundraisers included.  It’s not quite as dramatic as the amount of money pulled in after the Supreme Court’s decision on ObamaCare ($4.6 million), but it’s close.

I contacted a source close to the campaign, and got the details:

• Donors: over 41,000
• Average donation: $85
• Website visits: 700,000

The campaign saw an interesting phenomenon after the Ryan announcement.  Over 30% of the visits came from mobile devices, something the source tells me the campaign has never seen before in this cycle.  It shows that the selection of Ryan may have some significant upside among younger voters who may relate more to Ryan than to Obama, Joe Biden, and the administration that has cratered job prospects for this demographic over the last three years.

The campaign has a new web video out today featuring the newest team member and his introductory speech:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Add2VY0FM7U&feature=player_embedded

Looks like the subtext of this campaign will be: Real Hope from Real Change.  If the fundraising numbers give any indication, it looks as though America’s ready to reward seriousness.