First national poll does not favor Paul Ryan as V.P.

MILWAUKEE -- The first national poll out since Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan was announced as the Republican vice presidential nominee does not fall in his favor. However, Republicans and Democrats alike are saying that's a good thing.

The new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows Ryan is seen as only a “fair” or “poor” choice by 42% of Americans — while 39% think he is an “excellent” or “pretty good” vice presidential choice. 

The poll also finds 48% of Americans view Ryan as qualified to be president if something should happen to Romney, while 29% do not. 23% were undecided. 

"Polls are sort of like a snapping a picture. At this specific moment in time this is what people were saying,"  UWM Governmental Affairs professor Mordecai Lee said.

Republicans and Democrats alike agree, the results of this poll are bound to change.

"The more people learn about Paul Ryan, they're not going to really like what they find," Mike Tate with the Wisconsin Democratic Party said.

"Once the rest of the country gets to know Paul they'll be equally impressed as we are," Ted Kanavas with the Republican Party of Wisconsin said.

Though Ryan has made political headlines in the past, the two parties argue he's not so well known by the average voter on a national scale. The 19% undecided from Sunday's poll only bolsters the belief. However, Ryan's lack of national name recognition is about the only thing both sides agree on.

"They're going to find out that he's sincere, that he's direct with people, that he's smart," Kanavas said.

"He's going to lose so many independents because of these radical ideas that Paul Ryan has," Tate said.

Lee dissects the situation by looking at governor and presidential candidate Mitt Romney's other possible choices. Lee says the decision wasn't made to swing independent voters.

"Romney could have picked the senator from Florida to help him win Florida.  He didn't. He could have picked the Senator from Ohio to help him win Ohio.  He didn't.  He opted for Ryan, not to win Wisconsin, but because Ryan can help him win Florida and Ohio by exciting conservative activism," Lee said.

The USA TODAY/Gallup Poll of 1,006 adults was taken Sunday, August 12th. It has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points.

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