John Zogby Poll: Ryan Gives Romney Big Push in Swing States, Independents

Mitt Romney’s campaign has gotten a decisive bump upwards with the selection of Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate, a new poll by JZ Analytics reveals.

The poll — the first survey conducted after Romney announced Ryan as his vice presidential choice — shows the Romney/Ryan ticket tied with Obama/Biden at 46 percent.

But a JZ Analytics poll from a few weeks ago had Obama leading Romney by 5 percentage points, and most major polls also had Obama comfortably in the lead before the Ryan selection.

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A CNN survey completed on Thursday, Aug. 9, had Obama up by 7 points. A Fox poll on Aug. 9 had the president ahead by 9 points, and a survey by Public Policy polling on Aug. 7 showed Obama with a 6-point lead.

“Clearly there is a Ryan bump,” pollster John Zogby, managing director of JZ Analytics, told Newsmax. Significantly, the new poll shows the Romney/Ryan ticket with a substantial lead among voters in swing states, 49.1 percent to 41.2 percent.

Also, the Republican ticket garners 45.2 percent among independent voters, ahead of the Democratic ticket at 40.1. Obama led in an earlier poll of independents. That shows that the Ryan choice has not hurt the Republican ticket in this important demographic, and has actually helped.

What is also significant here, according to Zogby, is that the percentage of voters who say they are still undecided now stands at just 14.7 percent, compared to over 20 percent in an earlier Zogby poll.

Zogby says that with the selection of the Wisconsin congressman and budget guru as his running mate, he has “boldly offered a choice for voters."

"President Obama has been leading handsomely in some polls. He may even take heart in Mitt Romney's selection of Rep. Ryan as his running mate. The GOP candidate's selection was out-of-the-box and on a Saturday morning, no less. And it offers the opportunity for Mr. Romney to refocus his campaign on spending, fiscal responsibility, and the nation's unsustainable path.

“On the other hand, Mr. Ryan is controversial, and his plans to reform Medicare can be pretty scary to voters over 65. This is a group of voters who have been most loyal to Mr. Romney in the primaries and the general election polls. Losing even a small piece of their support really threatens his campaign — and be assured that Mr. Obama's people will be jumping all over that.”

But at least for the time being, the poll shows, the selection of Ryan is a positive step for the Republican campaign.

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