Four in 10 Americans rate Mitt Romney's selection of Rep. Paul Ryan to be his running mate as either "excellent" or "pretty good," while 42% call the choice "only fair" or "poor." This even division is among the least positive reactions to a vice presidential choice Gallup has recorded in recent elections. Only George H.W. Bush's selection of Dan Quayle in 1988 generated a higher negative response, although it also generated higher positives.

By 25% to 17%, more Americans have a favorable than unfavorable opinion of Ryan. However, nearly six in 10 are not familiar enough with Ryan to offer an opinion of him...

...Nearly half of Republicans can't rate Ryan; however, those who can are mostly positive, with 50% viewing him favorably and 3% unfavorably. Democrats view Ryan more negatively, although barely a third have an unfavorable view of him (34%), while 6% have a favorable view. Independents' views are closely split, similar to the national average.

Although Ryan is not widely known, his favorable-to-unfavorable ratio is on the low side for recent vice presidential picks. For example, Palin's favorable rating among registered voters was three times greater than her unfavorable rating at the time she made her debut as John McCain's running mate at the 2008 Republican National Convention, 22% vs. 7%.