Don’t Forget Poll Land

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) — A national poll of debate watchers suggests that Sen. Barack Obama won the second presidential debate.

Fifty-four percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey conducted after the debate ended said that Obama did the best job in the debate, with 30 percent saying Sen. John McCain performed better.

Original DVD cover.

According to the poll, 64 percent had a favorable opinion of Obama after the debate, up four points from before the event. Fifty-one percent of those polled had a favorable opinion of McCain after the debate unchanged from before its start.

A majority said Obama seemed to be the stronger leader during the debate, 54 percent to 43 percent, and by a more than two to one margin — 65 percent to 28 percent — viewers thought Obama was more likable during the debate.

CNN polling director Keating Holland said Obama made some gains on the leadership issue even before the debate.

“McCain’s advantage on leadership shrunk from 19 points in September to just five points this weekend,” Holland said. “If Obama can use this debate to convince Americans that he is a stronger leader than McCain, he may be difficult to defeat.”

A majority of debate watchers polled thought Obama was more intelligent, by a 57 percent to 25 percent margin over McCain. Debate watchers also thought Obama more clearly expressed his views by a two to one margin, 60 percent to 30 percent.

Debate watchers questioned thought McCain, rather than Obama, spent more time attacking his opponent, with 63 percent saying McCain went more on the attack, as opposed to just 17 percent saying Obama.

Half of those polled said Obama answered questions more directly, 13 points ahead of McCain, and by a 14-point margin, debate watchers thought Obama seemed to care more about the problems of audience members who asked questions. Read entire transcript of debate

McCain did come out on top in one category that neither candidate wants to win. By a 16-point margin, debate watchers thought the Arizona senator seemed more like a typical politician during the debate.

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The poll suggests that independent voters thought Obama won the debate. Fifty-four percent of those identifying themselves as independents said the Illinois senator performed best, with 28 percent saying that McCain did the better job.

From McLatchy:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Barack Obama has opened his biggest lead over John McCain of the fall campaign, according to a new Ipsos/McClatchy poll that puts him ahead nationwide by 7 percentage points.

Obama’s gain appears to come from two key factors.

First, voters are ever more anxious about the faltering economy and trust Obama by a 15-point margin over McCain to steer it. Second, their confidence that McCain’s running mate Sarah Palin is qualified to step into the presidency if necessary has fallen sharply.

The net effect is seen in the nationwide support for all the presidential candidates, including those from minor parties:

_ Obama, the Democratic nominee, had the support of 47 percent of registered voters.

_ McCain, the Republican candidate, had the support of 40 percent.

_ Independent candidate Ralph Nader had 3 percent.

_ Libertarian candidate Bob Barr had 1 percent.

With less than a month before Election Day, 9 percent remained undecided or uncommitted, and nearly one in 10 supporters of the two top candidates said they still could change their minds. The poll of 858 registered voters was taken Oct. 2-6 and had an error margin of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.

From The Kansas City Star:

Third update (October 8 8 am): AOL viewer voting (unscientific) place Obama winning by a 52% to 41 margin.

MSNBC viewer voting (unscientific) shows Obama winning 83% to 13.

SurveyUSA shows polls from California and Washington. Obama won the debate in California voters’ eyes 56% to 26. In Washington Obama wins the poll of those who watched the debate 54% to 29.

I was still unable to find a Fox poll, but the web site has a number of pundit analyses. Many Fox pundits see McCain winning the debate. One pundit gives Obama the victory, crediting style over substance.

Second update: On the CBS web site a poll of 516 people showed Obama winning 40% to McCain’s 26% with 34% calling the debate a draw.

First update: MediaCurves in a poll of 1001 people reports that Republicans thought McCain won the debate 68 to 20; Democrats thought Obama won the debate 84 to 10; Independents thought Obama won the debate 52 to 34.

Initial post:

VERY early poll results from CNN show Obama winning the 2nd debate 54 to 30.

CNN also reported that a CBS poll of undecided voters showed an Obama advantage of 39 to McCain’s 27, remaining voters unchanged. I have not been able to find this poll on the CBS web site.

Non-random, unscientific polls on MSNBC and AOL show Obama 85 to McCain 12 and Obama 51 to McCain 42. These numbers will change as additional people log onto the MSNBC and AOL web sites/portals.

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A quick look at comments on the FOX News web site suggests that their viewers saw McCain winning the debate, but there was no tabulation.

😆 Are the numbers so bad for Captain Underpants that Faux News can’t stand to post them? 😆