“If we get this right, we will look back at this moment when we got it right … Michiganders, we need your help, and we can do this,” Ryan said, encouraging the crowd toward the end of the rally.

In a Pew Research Center poll released Monday, 49 percent of likely voters said they would vote for Republican challenger Mitt Romney if the election were today, while 45 percent favored President Barack Obama.

The increase in popularity is linked to Romney’s strong performance in the presidential debate last week, director of the MSU Institute for Public Policy and Social Research Douglas Roberts said.

He said Romney’s mixed campaign actions, such as pulling advertisements from Michigan networks last month, while later sending Ryan to address supporters, puts Michigan in a gray area on the presidential candidate’s priority list.

Sending Ryan — as a younger candidate whose purpose is to appeal to the crucial voting pool of college-aged adults — shows Romney’s campaign is reaching out to young voters, Roberts said.

“The matter of fact that the vice presidential (candidate) is coming to Michigan, using resources they could have used in another state is an indication they haven’t given up on Michigan,” Roberts said. “The student vote itself is obviously crucial to the election.”

But during his speech, Ryan focused on the impact all people can have on the 2012 election.

“It doesn’t matter what generation you come from — this is the most important election in your generation,” Ryan said. “We’re picking a big path for our country.”

Romney narrowly won the Michigan primary in February with a 3.2 percent lead over then-Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum.

Political science professor Paul Abramson said Ryan likely has more appeal with young voters than Obama’s vice presidential candidate Joe Biden.

“But (Ryan’s) position on social issues, … is probably not popular,” Abramson said.