Ryan Sisters Praise Family Values of GOP Ticket

Traffic was slow moving up West Broadway in Derry on Wednesday as dozens of GOP supporters lined the streets to celebrate the arrival of Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan's sister Janet and sister-in-law Oakleigh.

The two wasted no time painting the human portrait of both Ryan and Mitt Romney on the GOP ticket.

"Since Gov. Romney asked Paul to join him on the ticket people have been coming up to me and asking 'did you ever think he would grow up to be on the ticket?,'" Janet said. "You know, if I had thought way back when, we might not have always put him in the middle on the long car rides."

Janet, a Massachusetts resident of 20 years, joked that she will finally get a chance to vote for her brother.

She also told the Derry crowd about Paul the family man, explaining how he grew up interacting with his grandparents on a daily basis, one of whom suffered from Alzheimer's Disease, and helping out when they needed it.

"This is who he is," she said. "He has grown up this way. He will continue to be this way."

Oakleigh, who is married to Tobin Ryan, talked about her family's first chance to meet Romney at an event in Wisconsin.

"(Mitt Romney) spent time asking us questions, learning about us," she said. "About my 12-year-old son (and) what he did. My daughter. Where I went to school. I couldn't get in a question."

She called Romney and Ryan men who are interested in the country and in what they do, and "less interested in being interesting."

She also spoke about her brother-in-law's first campaign for office in 1998 when he was 27, when he told her how he could make a "competent leader" for Wisconsin's 1st District.

Oakleigh also shared what Ryan told her as he started his campaign.

"He said 'Oakleigh, I've been in Washington. I've worked at think tanks, I've worked as a waiter, I've worked on the Hill, I've worked on the Senate and I've studied this, and I think I can do a good job. I think I can be a very competent leader for the 1st District.'"

"We need more competent leaders in Washington," Oakleigh told the crowd of Derry supporters.

Also in attendance were state Sen. Sharon Carson and former congressional candidate and political activist Jennifer Horn.