Paul Ryan VP Pick An Unpopular Choice: Poll
By Ariel Edwards-Levy Posted: 08/13/2012 12:23 pm Updated: 08/13/2012 2:54 pm
Americans’ initial reaction to Paul Ryan is decidedly lukewarm, with more rating his selection as vice president negatively than positively, according to a USA Today/Gallup poll taken after the announcement. Ryan’s ratings were less positive than those for any other vice presidential pick part of Gallup since 2000, including Sarah Palin, Joe Biden and Dick Cheney. The only other recent vice presidential selection to gain net negative ratings was Dan Quayle in 1988.
Ryan was rated as an "excellent" or "pretty good" selection by 39 percent of Americans, and an "only fair" or "poor" selection by 42 percent. Just 17 percent said the pick made them more likely to vote for Romney, continuing a trend of vice presidential selections that don’t immediately have much effect on presidential races.
A plurality — 48 percent — believed Ryan is qualified to take over as president, while 29 percent did not.
Neil Newhouse, a pollster for the Romney campaign, told USA Today in a statement that the poll showed Ryan wasn’t yet a household name.
Sarah Palin, who was also mostly unknown when John McCain chose her for vice president in 2008, was considered an "excellent" or "pretty good" pick by 46 percent of voters and "only fair" or "poor" by 37 percent. Joe Biden had similar ratings, with voters split 47 percent to 33 percent.
Democrats hope to define Ryan on the basis of his controversial budget plan, which they believe will be unpopular with voters.
Unlike USA Today/Gallup’s past polling on reactions to vice presidential choices, this one surveyed all adults, as opposed to only those who are registered voters, which could cause it to lean slightly more Democratic.
