"'She'll take the offer', they said. 'She wants it for 2016', they said. 'You'll finally be rid of the idiot!' they said."
Posted on 08/18/2012 5:05:46 PM PDT by Libloather
Rasmussen: Voters say Ryan more qualified to be president than Biden
By Meghashyam Mali - 08/18/12 01:33 PM ET
A new poll shows voters giving Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) a slight edge when asked which VP candidate is better qualified to serve as president.
The new survey from conservative-leaning outlet Rasmussen shows that 42 percent say the House Budget Chairman and Mitt Romney running mate would be more qualified to be commander-in-chief. Forty percent pick Vice President Joe Biden, with 18 percent undecided.
Ryan’s two-point edge, however, is within the poll’s 3-percent margin of error.
The survey comes after a difficult week for the vice president.
On Tuesday, he told a racially mixed audience at a campaign rally in Virginia that Republican policies toward Wall Street would "put y'all back in chains," a comment that brought swift condemnation from Republicans.
The Obama campaign defended Biden and said that his remark was taken out of context.
Yet the latest in a series of gaffes from the vice president, led to media speculation that he might be forced off the ticket, despite the Obama administration’s repeated statements that Biden would run with the president in 2012.
On Thursday, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Republicans were trying to "distract attention" and said Obama had no intention of getting rid of Biden as his running mate.
Obama campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt also denied a report in a new book, The Amateur, by Ed Klein, that officials had urged Obama to replace Biden with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the ticket.
On Friday, LaBolt said any talk of replacing Biden was just press-driven and called the vice president "absolutely essential to our ticket."
The new Rasmussen poll numbers will also be welcome news at Romney headquarters after other polls in Ryan's first week on the campaign trail suggested he had received a lukewarm response from voters.
A USA Today/Gallup poll on Monday, though, found that the seven-term Wisconsin lawmaker was viewed as a “fair” or “poor” choice by 42 percent, with 39 naming him an “excellent” or “pretty good” choice.
That survey found Ryan was the worst performing VP pick immediately after his introduction since Vice President Dan Quayle in 1988. Quayle was viewed as a “fair” or “poor” choice by 52 percent of the public in that year.
Another Rasmussen poll this week, though, found voters viewing Ryan more favorably after his selection by Romney.
In that poll released Tuesday, 50 percent surveyed said they had a favorable view of the GOP veep pick, including 29 percent who held a “very favorable” view. Thirty-two percent viewed him unfavorably, with 13 percent holding a “very unfavorable” view.
Overall, 43 percent said he was the right pick for Romney.
The Rasmussen poll on Biden and Ryan's relative qualifications for the presidency was conducted from Aug. 14 to 15.
Big mistake. Nobody is buying it.
58% of Americans aren’t paying attention.
62% don't like percentages.
Patriotism "it was taken out of context" is the last refuge of scoundrels.
You gotta be kidding me. The man doesn't even know what century we're in!
(There are a lot of dumb people in this country.)
I can’t remember a VP selection being named this far ahead of time in a campaign. But, it was a smart move, however, because it gave the Romney/Ryan Ticket an almost 3-week head start on the campaign. And, when an Election is going to be as close as this Election is going to be, that’s a lot of time to woo voters. For example: Ryan was with his mom today at the Villages in Florida. A community of 31,000 Seniors. Good move Romney camp; good move.
half of all statistics are 125% crap
Correction: Biden knows what century we are in. He just doesn’t know what century he is in. And his comment about where it is written that we cannot produce the best cars in the world in the Twentieth Century is another of Biden’s plagerisms. I believe Lee Iococca said that in the late 1970s or early 1980s.
It’s incomprehensible that two dysfuntional clowns could make it to that level in this country.
Perhaps the level is not all that high any more.
Assuming the number is accurate....this is one of the scariest and most discouraging factoids I have seen in a long time.
Biden is insurance only...and to get laughs.
Hell, Ryan is more qualified to be president than the Muslim Kenyan stoner squatting in the White House right now.
Joe Biden is truly a Renaissance man. He is a self proclaimed student of history (no mention of grades however). He has amazing talent (check out his rendition of “The Villages” on YouTube. In any debate with Paul Ryan he is assured to receive the sympathy vote. A Biden-Ryan debate would be like watching a small boy kicking a puppy. The Left will find it impossible to defend his performance with a straight face.
Ryan is more qualified than Obama to be president
If #2 is supposed to be less than the One, then there wasn’t a high standard set with #1.
60% of all statistics are made up, :)
O.K. I was counting the days until the Convention ends and the “officially” start the campaign together; August 11 is when he was announced and the Convention ends August 30.... 20 days.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.