That’s the implication of these comments from Barack Obama’s national field director, Jeremy Bird. Bird tells Buzzfeed that Wisconsin Democrats were “totally demoralized” after Republican Gov. Scott Walker successfully overcame unions’ recall efforts. But, he says, Democrats were determined to keep the Wisconsin congressman from joining Romney in the White House.

“[Wisconsin] was the hardest state for me as a field director to go out and organize,” he said. But all that changed after Romney recruited Ryan to be the GOP’s No. 2.

“Paul Ryan re-galvanized all of our troops in Wisconsin,” Bird says.

This is one of eight “new” insights about the 2012 presidential election Buzzfeed’s Zeke Miller has pulled together today. Not all of them are exactly new — some of us always knew that Paul Ryan was incredibly meme-worthy…

It’s sad to think Ryan might have cost Romney votes in Wisconsin, but I’m willing to be that for each moderate Republican vote Romney lost in Wisconsin, he picked up two conservative Republican votes elsewhere that may not have turned out at all on election day.  Ryan was still a great choice.

The GOP may not have won the White House, but they now have a fiscal policy spokesman with great national name recognition, for what that’s worth.