Red, White and Blue
New polls show Romney ahead of Obama in Wisconsin
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Annie Scholz reports Video by wtmj.com
video
JANESVILLE- New polls show Paul Ryan on the Republican presidential ticket making Wisconsin a major player in November.
CNN has changed Wisconsin on its electoral map from leaning toward President Obama, to a toss up. A new Public Policy Polling survey has Mitt Romney ahead of the president in Wisconsin. And they're pointing to Paul Ryan as a major reason why.
"It's a once in a lifetime for us, it's a chance for someone from Wisconsin to be on a national ticket," said voter Pat Rauch.
Romney's pick of the Janesville representative is starting to show some results among likely voters in the state. Public Policy Polling's (PPP) most recent survey had a seven point Republican swing in just a month.
Tom Jensen with PPP says the bump may be big, but there are even bigger implications down the road.
"Definitely an unusually large vice presidential bounce, and I think what that means moving forward is Wisconsin is probably going to be a swing state this fall."
UW-Milwaukee professor Mordecai Lee says that's good for both Republicans and Democrats.
"We as Wisconsinites want Wisconsin to be a battleground state. We don't want to be ignored and the more time they spend in Wisconsin, the more time they get to know us and what we care about," said Lee.
Lee says it's too early to tell if the bump will hold, but it's an early indication more Wisconsinites are getting in the game.
"The only way to interpret the results of the poll is that there is a Ryan effect because now he's brought Wisconsin into contention."
Marquette University's Law School is expected to release a poll of their own on Wednesday.
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