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Poll: Ryan Polling Roughly Equal To Palin In 2008

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The dust is still settling from Mitt Romney's selection of Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan as his running mate, but new polling from USA Today/Gallup is showing a tepid response from most Americans about Ryan's selection.

According to the poll, Ryan is seen as only a "fair" or "poor" choice by 42 percent of Americans, compared to 39 percent who consider him an "excellent" or "pretty good" choice. According to the polls history, only Dan Quayle was viewed less positively as a vice-presidential selection than Ryan.

Still, Ryan is still not widely known outside of Wisconsin and conservative circles. That means the Romney campaign has to get out in front defining who Ryan is before the Obama campaign can paint a picture of Ryan that could scare voters.

According to the poll numbers, 17 percent of adults say they're more likely to vote for Romney in November. That tracks with the same number of adults who said they're more likely to vote for John McCain when he selected Sarah Palin.

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