Paul Ryanand his mother Betty Ryan Douglas (Gerardo Mora/AP)

THE VILLAGES, Fla. -- Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan wrapped his first solo tour as Mitt Romney's running mate at the famous retirement community here Saturday, taking his message of Medicare reform to seniors in a crucial swing state.

Standing between two signs that read "Protect and Strengthen Medicare," Ryan made the most personal case for overhauling Medicare yet during his time on the campaign trail. With his mother, 78-year-old Betty Ryan Douglas, standing near him on the stage, Ryan discussed how the Medicare program has played a role in his own family's life.

"Like a lot of Americans, when I think of Medicare, it's not just a program. It's not just a bunch of numbers. It's what my mom relies on. It's what my grandma had," Ryan said. He told of how is grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease and moved into his mother's home when he was in high school. "Medicare was there for our family, for my grandma, when we needed it then. And Medicare is there for my mom while she needs

From Paul Ryan 2011 tax returns

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Mitt Romney's campaign released two years of vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan's tax returns Friday, which show that he and his wife paid a 15.9 percent effective tax rate on an adjusted gross income of $215,417 in 2010 and a 20 percent rate on $323,416 in 2011--a weighted average of just over 18 percent for both years.

The documents were posted Friday on Romney's campaign website alongside Romney's financial disclosures.

On top of Ryan's $174,000 annual salary as congressman, he reported earning dividends of $29,987 in 2011 and $26,052 in 2010, the documents show.

The Ryan family gave $15,591 to charity over that two-year period, most of which--$12,991--was donated in 2011.

According to financial disclosure documents filed earlier, Ryan's net worth ranges between $2 million and $7.7 million.

Romney has released one year of returns so far and, despite pressure from Democrats to release several years of documents, he plans to release only his 2011 returns once they are prepared, he said.

During a meeting with reporters earlier this year, Ryan said that he does not prepare his own taxes.

SPRINGFIELD, Va. -- Former Alabama Democratic Rep. Artur Davis, who defected to the Republican Party earlier this year, appeared with Paul Ryan at a rally here Friday.

Davis, who now lives in Virginia and will be a featured speaker at the Republican Party convention later this month, spoke before Ryan and focused partially on how he predicted Democrats would oppose him throughout the campaign.

"One week ago our Democratic friends believed that they were going to win an election based on fear and they were going to scare our seniors about Medicare," Davis said. "One week later, after Paul Ryan has been doing some truth-telling, America knows that there's only one candidate for president who had a plan to cut Medicare by $700 billion, and that is Barack Obama, the president of the United States."

Davis was one of earliest Democrats to endorse then-Sen. Barack Obama's candidacy for president during the presidential campaign in 2008, was a co-chair for Obama's campaign and spoke in