New poll shows Ryan bounce for Romney in Wisconsin

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A new poll shows that Republican Mitt Romney got at least a bounce in Wisconsin after he named Janesville’s Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate.

The firm of Public Policy Polling gives Romney a one-point lead over President Obama, 48 to 47 percent. That’s well within the margin of error of 2.7 percent.

Romney’s doing much better than in early July, when the same poll had him trailing Obama by six points in the Badger State.

UW-Milwaukee professor Mordecai Lee says it’s too early to tell if Romney’s recent gain will take hold, but he says it appears to make Wisconsin more of a battleground state this fall.

Wisconsinites appear to be split on Ryan, but they do give him the best approval rating among the four major candidates for president and vice president. Public Policy Polling gave Ryan a 49 percent approval rating compared to 46 percent for Obama, 45 for Romney, and 41 for Vice President Joe Biden.

Also, 40 percent supported Ryan’s controversial Medicare reform package in which seniors would get annual vouchers to buy private insurance.

The selection of Ryan also appeared to unify Republicans more closely. Ninety-three percent of Republicans said they support the Romney-Ryan ticket, as opposed to 87 percent before Romney named his running mate.

Public Policy Polling surveyed 1,300 likely Wisconsin voters from last Thursday through Sunday.

Tags: news, wisconsin, politics