According to an ABC News/Washington Post poll, respondents liked the idea of Paul Ryan as vice president by a margin of 38%-33%, which is a whole 20 points lower than when respondents were asked about the idea of Sarah Palin as vice president back in 2008. The results were the lowest for voters between 18-39 years old, and highest for voters over 65.

I guess that means that no one really knows how bad Ryan’s plan is for senior citizen programs. 

In 2008, Sarah Palin’s approval margin was 58%-38%.  If you don’t know, the numbers are “favorable” to “unfavorable” (with “no opinion” results not shown here). This means that 58% of respondents in 2008 thought favorably of Palin’s VP nomination,  and only 38% of respondents thought favorably of Ryan’s. While they’re different times and different polls, the numbers don’t lie: Palin was more popular than Ryan. 

While Glenn Beck called it genius, Ryan isn’t really doing anything for Romney’s campaign except doubling down on the ultraconservative vote. Much like Palin, Ryan will serve as a way to rile up social conservatives and hard-core Republicans who are already going to vote for the candidate, but unlike Palin, the GOP is banking on a not so terrible “crash and burn” that Palin succumbed to. 

Paul Ryan’s budget is set to slash social programs in order to pay for tax cut extensions and additional cuts for high-income households. While applauded for his effort, Ryan’s budget will do little to balance our budget and much to tip the scales in favor of the already wealthy during the tough economic times of our current recession’s recovery. 

[Near-Even Split on Ryan – But With Positive Movement]

Do you think Sarah Palin was a better choice for John McCain than Paul Ryan is for Mitt Romney?