Gore Edges Bush In CBS News Poll

(CBS)  Voters watching the third and final presidential debate came away somewhat torn over who turned in the better performance, although more were impressed with Vice President Al Gore than with Texas Gov. George W. Bush, according to a CBS News poll.

Forty-five percent said Gore did the better job in the debate Tuesday night, while 40 percent thought Bush was the winner. Another 15 percent said the debate was a draw.

This was a reversal of attitudes following the second debate, when Bush bested Gore by a small margin.

Bush did marginally better in the crucial battleground of the Midwest than he did nationally, although Gore still came out ahead there: 44 percent of Midwestern viewers said Gore won the debate, while 41 percent thought Bush was the victor.

The three debates have had some impact on how voters feel about the candidates serving as president. And more voters have improved their opinions of Bush as president than have improved their opinions of Gore in that role.

Thirty-six percent said they feel better now about the idea of Bush as president than they did before the debates, while 38 percent feel the same and 25 percent feel worse. Gore's debate performances have raised more doubt than Bush's: 34 percent of voters feel better about the idea of a Gore presidency, but 31 percent feel worse.

At the same time, however, the debates appear to have done little to actually change voters' minds as much as they may have reinforced the choices voters had already made. Fifty-nine percent of voters said the debates have helped them make up their minds about whom to support, but only 14 percent said that the debates have changed their vote.

This CBS News Poll was conducted by Knowledge Networks among a nationwide random sample of 617 registered voters, including 528 debate watchers. Knowledge Networks polled a sample of registered voters in its household panel, which is a nationally representative sample of households given access to the Internet via Web TV. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points for results based on the entire sample, and the sample of debate watchers.