YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — As GOP vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan stumps across battleground states, conservatives flock to see him — and not just because they believe that he and his running mate are on the verge of booting President Barack Obama out of the White House.

For people such as Joy Chickonoski, it is also because they believe that, win or lose, the 42-year-old Wisconsin congressman offers a glimpse of the Republican future.

Whether next January finds Ryan moving into the vice president's residence at the Naval Observatory or back sleeping in his office on Capitol Hill, "he needs to continue to do what he does best and just trust that his gifts will make room for him, where he needs to be," said Chickonoski, a pastor from the nearby town of Poland who came to see Ryan on Saturday at Youngstown State University.