Since Ryan endorsed Romney last Friday, he was at the candidate’s side at every turn — introducing him before formal speeches, vouching for him at town hall meetings and joining him as they eyed cherry pie, picked up fried cheese curds and handed out sub sandwiches. (Romney gave away turkey; Ryan, ham and cheese.)

Along the way, Romney’s aides were sizing Ryan up. And although chief strategist Stuart Stevens waved off any talk of the two forming a national ticket as irresponsibly premature, he did say they got along well behind the scenes and noted their “chemistry” on the stump…

By Monday afternoon, at a town hall meeting in Milwaukee, Romney was content to let Ryan answer questions on his behalf. When a voter asked Romney to explain his plan to simplify the tax code, he responded: “I heard the congressman answer this question better than I can last time we chatted, so I’m going to have him describe, just for a moment, his plans on the tax code, which are very similar to my own.”

And this is when Sherry Magner, the pharmacy clerk, decided who she thinks Romney should pick as his running mate.