CBS Poll: Obama Has Edge In Final Debate
Uncommitted voters named Barack Obama as the winner of the third and final presidential debate by a large margin, according to a CBS News/Knowledge Networks poll.
Obama was also named by uncommitted voters in this poll to have defeated John McCain in the first two presidential debates.
Immediately after the debate, CBS News interviewed a nationally representative sample of 638 debate watchers assembled by Knowledge Networks who were "uncommitted voters" - either undecided about who to vote for or who could still change their minds. Fifty-three percent said Obama won the debate, 22 percent said McCain won and another 25 percent thought it was a tie.
Democrats are usually perceived as better than Republicans at handling health care (a topic discussed in detail during the debate) -- and that was true for Obama. Before the debate, 61 percent of uncommitted voters said that Obama would make the right decisions about health care -- that rose to 68 percent after the debate. Only 27 percent thought McCain would do so before the debate -- afterwards it was just 30 percent.
Despite McCain's observations that Obama's policies would raise taxes, half of these voters after the debate think McCain would raise taxes if elected. However even more, 64 percnet, think Obama would.
The economy continues to be a critical issue for voters overall, and both before and after the debate more uncommitted debate watchers thought Obama more than McCain would make the right decisions on the economy. Before the debate, 54 percent said Obama would make the right decisions about the economy -- that rose to 65 percent after the debate. Thirty-eight percent said before the debate McCain would make the right decisions about the economy -- that increased to 48 percent after the debate.
However, far more uncommitted debate watchers trust John McCain to handle a crisis. Before the debate, 78 percent trusted McCain to handle a crisis -- afterwards, 82 percent trust him. Obama's ratings were lower than McCain on that measure, but did rise after the debate from 50 percent to 63 percent.
Far more uncommitted voters continue to think Obama understands their needs and problems than think that about McCain. Both before and after the debate, majorities of uncommitted voters felt Obama understood their needs and problems -- fewer said the same about McCain.
Both candidates are viewed similarly on sharing voters' values, but Obama increased a bit more than McCain did after the debate.
Forty-six of the uncommitted voters said that their image of Obama changed for the better as a result of this debate. Just 10 percent say their opinion of Obama got worse, and 44 percent reported no change in their opinions.
McCain's image improved, but not nearly as much. Thirty percent said their image of him improved as a result of the debate, but nearly as many - 26 percent -- said their views of him are now worse than before.
Debate watchers who thought Obama won the debate thought he was a better communicator and has a better grasp of the problems the country has to face. Some used words like "eloquent" and "confident" to describe him. In contrast, some said McCain was defensive and spent too much time attacking Obama - using words like "rude," "mean," and "caustic" to describe McCain's performance in the debate.
Debate watchers who thought McCain won the debate were impressed by his experience, and many were unsure about Obama's sincerity and credibility. Many were also concerned that Obama's solutions all required spending money.
As this poll has found after the previous debates, most uncommitted voters' minds have not changed. But more went Obama's way after this debate. Thirty percent of uncommitted voters who watched this debate said they are now committed to Obama, twice as many as the 14 percent who said they are now committed to McCain. Most - 57 percent - remain uncommitted.
Read the complete poll (PDF)
This CBS News poll was conducted online by Knowledge Networks among a nationwide random sample of 638 uncommitted voters - voters who don't yet know who they will vote for, or who have chosen a candidate but may still change their minds - who have agreed to watch the debate. Knowledge Networks, a market and public policy research firm based in Menlo Park, CA, conducted the web poll among a sample of adult members of its panel, who are provided web access if they don't already have it. More technical information is available at http://www.knowledgenetworks.com/ganp/reviewer-info.html.
This is a scientifically representative poll of uncommitted voters' reaction to the presidential debate. The margin of sampling error could be plus or minus 4 percentage points for results based on the entire sample.
Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved. Obama was also named by uncommitted voters in this poll to have defeated John McCain in the first two presidential debates.
Immediately after the debate, CBS News interviewed a nationally representative sample of 638 debate watchers assembled by Knowledge Networks who were "uncommitted voters" - either undecided about who to vote for or who could still change their minds. Fifty-three percent said Obama won the debate, 22 percent said McCain won and another 25 percent thought it was a tie.
Democrats are usually perceived as better than Republicans at handling health care (a topic discussed in detail during the debate) -- and that was true for Obama. Before the debate, 61 percent of uncommitted voters said that Obama would make the right decisions about health care -- that rose to 68 percent after the debate. Only 27 percent thought McCain would do so before the debate -- afterwards it was just 30 percent.
Despite McCain's observations that Obama's policies would raise taxes, half of these voters after the debate think McCain would raise taxes if elected. However even more, 64 percnet, think Obama would.
The economy continues to be a critical issue for voters overall, and both before and after the debate more uncommitted debate watchers thought Obama more than McCain would make the right decisions on the economy. Before the debate, 54 percent said Obama would make the right decisions about the economy -- that rose to 65 percent after the debate. Thirty-eight percent said before the debate McCain would make the right decisions about the economy -- that increased to 48 percent after the debate.
However, far more uncommitted debate watchers trust John McCain to handle a crisis. Before the debate, 78 percent trusted McCain to handle a crisis -- afterwards, 82 percent trust him. Obama's ratings were lower than McCain on that measure, but did rise after the debate from 50 percent to 63 percent.
Far more uncommitted voters continue to think Obama understands their needs and problems than think that about McCain. Both before and after the debate, majorities of uncommitted voters felt Obama understood their needs and problems -- fewer said the same about McCain.
Both candidates are viewed similarly on sharing voters' values, but Obama increased a bit more than McCain did after the debate.
Forty-six of the uncommitted voters said that their image of Obama changed for the better as a result of this debate. Just 10 percent say their opinion of Obama got worse, and 44 percent reported no change in their opinions.
McCain's image improved, but not nearly as much. Thirty percent said their image of him improved as a result of the debate, but nearly as many - 26 percent -- said their views of him are now worse than before.
Debate watchers who thought Obama won the debate thought he was a better communicator and has a better grasp of the problems the country has to face. Some used words like "eloquent" and "confident" to describe him. In contrast, some said McCain was defensive and spent too much time attacking Obama - using words like "rude," "mean," and "caustic" to describe McCain's performance in the debate.
Debate watchers who thought McCain won the debate were impressed by his experience, and many were unsure about Obama's sincerity and credibility. Many were also concerned that Obama's solutions all required spending money.
As this poll has found after the previous debates, most uncommitted voters' minds have not changed. But more went Obama's way after this debate. Thirty percent of uncommitted voters who watched this debate said they are now committed to Obama, twice as many as the 14 percent who said they are now committed to McCain. Most - 57 percent - remain uncommitted.
Read the complete poll (PDF)
This CBS News poll was conducted online by Knowledge Networks among a nationwide random sample of 638 uncommitted voters - voters who don't yet know who they will vote for, or who have chosen a candidate but may still change their minds - who have agreed to watch the debate. Knowledge Networks, a market and public policy research firm based in Menlo Park, CA, conducted the web poll among a sample of adult members of its panel, who are provided web access if they don't already have it. More technical information is available at http://www.knowledgenetworks.com/ganp/reviewer-info.html.
This is a scientifically representative poll of uncommitted voters' reaction to the presidential debate. The margin of sampling error could be plus or minus 4 percentage points for results based on the entire sample.
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What a shame reputable CBS airs such poll
Then, anyone heard about the ''Bradley effect''?
i bet on voting day millions of Americans will change their minds, kind of going from ''yes Obama is good, i dont care about his muslim roots'' to ''after all im gonna vote White''. Stay tuned...
Good by George and Richard. We%u2019ll miss you because of the terrific job you did in deciding to invade Iraq and in keeping a close eye on Wall Street during your watch to prevent any serious shenanigans. Sorry Bill and Hillary. Of course we all really wanted to have you back again so Bill could have another shot at finding some more action with interns in the oval office. Too bad John and Sarah. It looks like we%u2019ll probably never get a chance to fulfill our wildest dream of someday having President Palin lead the free world. Welcome President Obama! You are an intelligent, articulate, and insightful 47 year old biracial man, a former instructor in constitutional law for 12 years, a 3 term Illinois State Senator, and a US Senator for the past 4 years who on November 4 will very likely win the right to begin what may be an eight year process of helping to unite, reform, and lead the greatest and most powerful country in the history of the planet, and in the process, despite the cynics, skeptics, and nay sayers, perhaps become the most practical, effective, and respected American president in modern times.
"Immediately after the debate, CBS News interviewed a nationally representative sample of "638" debate watchers assembled by Knowledge Networks who were "uncommitted voters"
and then
"Forty-six of the uncommitted voters said that their image of Obama changed for the better as a result of this debate. "Just 10 percent" say their opinion of Obama got worse, and 44 percent reported no change in their opinions".
10% of 638 whos opinion of obama got worse is 63 people and 46 of people who said that there got better of him correct me if im wrong but thats a net loss
dont get me started on other polls that say obama won when these people clearly state to the pollers they have a prefrence but are uncommited and then CBS dont tell us what those leanings are - they could be 60% 40% in favour of democrats and that is hardly a fair poll - more of a biased poll if u ask me
What could justify such a negative attitude?
LOL Man YOU need to look at and dive into the relationship between the KKK and the Republican Party!! LOL YOU think this Professor is a TERRORIST... Well Sparky the Klan makes him look like a child!
Posted by gameoverdems at 05:37 AM : Oct 17, 2008
So YOU think Murtha''s statement will cause these people to vote FOR the Party that has brought them a CONSTANT and CONSISTENT drop in their standard of living? Yeah? No wonder you people voted for the Worst in History... TWICE!! LOL
Drill here drill now........McCain is not very well informed or he is in the pocket of BIG OIL.
Big Oil wants access to all US land and off-shore sites.
But facts are facts, and the real facts are that there are 1,995 rigs exploring and drilling for oil & natural gas in the USA right now. These rigs are drilling at both on and off-shore sites.
Of the millions of acres currently leased by BIG Oil, 78 million acres are not being drilled. Of these 33 million acres are off-shore sites and do not need any further Government approval for exploration. Eventually Big Oil will get to these sites.
McCain & his Big Oil cronies do not want you to know the truth. Copy and spread the truth
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Posted by Rocca777 at 02:59 AM : Oct 17, 2008"
GO OBAMA!!! Real Americans not needing the family name to get in high places!!!!
If Obama can win, we all can aspire to our best self!
What a wonderful inspiration he is to all regular Americans!