Red Mitten Flash Poll: Paul Ryan Will Improve Mitt Romney’s Chances in Michigan

is Mitt Romney’s pick for vice president, and it’s a choice that has drawn praise from Michigan conservatives: that’s the finding of Saturday’s Red Mitten flash poll of influential Republicans.

Fifty-eight conservatives from southeastern Michigan used an automated anonymous survey tool to offer their opinions about as his running mate on the GOP presidential ticket.

Twenty-one responses were collected over a six-hour period. This poll differed from our previous Red Mitten survey in that responses were taken in a much shorter time frame.

“It was a strong choice,” one respondent said of Ryan as the vice presidential nominee. “And should help Romney surpass Obama in the polls.”

Almost all the respondents—86 percent—said they “strongly agree” that Romney’s decision to choose Ryan will galvanize Michigan Republicans.

Most also thought Ryan will help sway undecided voters in the state. Thirty-three percent said they strongly agree the will win over independent voters, and another 28 percent said they somewhat agree. Nineteen percent said they somewhat disagree, nine percent said they strongly disagree and the rest were neutral on Ryan’s impact on undecided voters.

“Selection won't change the minds of Dems or Reps, time will tell if it moves any independents,” one respondent said.

When asked to describe Ryan’s No. 1 advantage, Michigan influencers pointed to his “fiscal conservatism.”

“It solidifies Mitt's promise to balance the federal budget,” one said.

Another echoed those thoughts: “This shows that Romney is very serious about getting the deficit and medicare under control.”

Others cited Ryan’s “basic conservative standards” and his “articulate candor.”

Most of the Republican influencers also disagreed with the idea that Democrats can win by running against Ryan’s existing budget plans and particularly his proposal for Medicare. Forty-two percent said they strongly disagree and another 19 percent said they somewhat disagree. Another 19 percent were neutral or not sure, and the remainder either said they somewhat agree or strongly agree.

But Republican influencers believe that Paul’s selection as the vice presidential nominee will galvanize Democrats in the Mitten State.

Thirty-three percent of the influencers said they somewhat agree that Paul will galvanize Michigan Democrats, and another nine percent said they strongly agree. Nineteen percent said they were neutral or not sure; 23 percent said they somewhat disagree; and 14 percent said they strongly disagree.

Still, the vast majority of respondents said they believe Ryan will help Romney in the state.

“Michigan is clearly in play with a VP choice from the Midwest,” one said.

“Michigan voters have cut costs and have seen the benefit with Rick Snyder as our Governor,” another respondent said. “Hopefully that positive message that help the swing voters who backed Snyder will translate to their support of Paul Ryan.”

While most praised Ryan’s selection, not everyone was pleased.

“This is a mistake,” one influencer said. “It will galvanize Democrats and likely push moderate Republicans and independents toward Obama because Romney has clearly embraced the bitter strands of the party on the far right. To not pick a minority or woman is not only strategically an error, but also alienates growing voter percentages who may have found a home with the GOP if they felt they at the very least had descriptive representation as an option. Time to start congratulating Democrats, November is in the bag."

The Red Mitten Survey

Our surveys are not a scientific random sample of any larger population but rather an effort to listen to influential local Republican activists, party leaders and elected officials in Michigan. All of these individuals have agreed to participate in the surveys, although not all responded to today’s questions. Surveys were conducted Saturday, Aug. 11, between 11:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Patch will be conducting Red Mitten surveys for Republicans and Blue Mitten surveys for Democrats throughout 2012 in hopes of determining the true sentiment of conservatives and liberals in Michigan. If you are an activist, party leader or elected official and would like to take part in weekly surveys that last just a few minutes, please email Associate Regional Editor John Hetzler at john.hetzler@patch.com.

Red Michigan roster: Prudy Adam (Genesee County Republican Chair); Neal Barnett (Bloomfield Township Trustee); Brian Belesky; Cindy Berry (Candidate for Chesterfield Township Clerk); Mark Bliss (Candidate for State Rep); Tony Brown (Fenton Township Trustee); Dino Bucci (Macomb Township Trustee); Jim Carson (Dexter Village trustee); Jacob Collison; Helen Cost (Past President of Royal Oak Republican Women’s Club); Sean Cotton; Hugh Crawford (State Rep); Kathy Crawford (Oakland County Commissioner); Joseph Daly; Dan Devine (Bloomfield Township Treasurer); Chuck Dittmar; James Drolett (Candidate for Dexter Township Supervisor); Janet Dunn (Macomb Township Trustee); Ron Dwyer; Ryan Eaton; Kathy Elliott; Justin Fischer (Novi City Council); Anthony Forlini (State Rep); Becky Freeman; Scott Freeman; Bob Gatt (Mayor of Novi); Matt Germane (Hartland Township Trustee); Joe Green; Pat Hardy (Bloomfield Hills City Commissioner); Karen Jacobsen; Corinne Khederian (Bloomfield Township Trustee); Richard Lerner (Farmington Hills City Council); C.J. Maier (Candidate for sheriff in Livingston County); Mike McCready (Bloomfield Hills City Commissioner, Candidate for State Rep); Sarah McLure (Bloomfield Hills Mayor); Rob Montilla (Chairman of the Republican Committee of Northern Macomb County); Drex Morton; Nancy Nevers (Macomb Township Trustee); Brian Perks; Mark Ouimet (State Rep); Thomas Pustelak; Harley Rider (Dexter Township Clerk); Janet Roncelli (Bloomfield Township Clerk); Jim Runestad (Oakland County Commissioner); Joe Sabatini (Macomb County Commissioner); Aaron Sarver (U-M Dearborn College Republicans Co-Chairman); John A. Scott (Oakland County Commissioner); Bill Shaw (Candidate for Oakland County Commissioner); Pat Somerville (State Rep); David Staudt (Mayor Pro-Tem of Novi); Shelley Taub (Bloomfield Township Clerk); Aaron Tuckfield; Brad Urdan (candidate for state Rep); Wanda Warsinski (President of Royal Oak Republican Women’s Club); Paul Welday; Pamela Williams; John Wolfsberger (Macomb Township Precinct Delegate); Wayne Wrobel (Novi City Council); Tom Yaschen (Chesterfield Township Trustee)

NOTE: This story was updated at 11:22 a.m. Sunday to correct the time frame of the poll to six hours (instead of five) and to insert the missing word "help" in the 15th paragraph.