http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog/91909 Who Won the Debate? by Mike Krumboltz October 16, 2008 06:24:52 AM The experts said this was John McCain's last best chance to turn the tide. The election has been going Barack Obama's way, and his republican rival needed a big win in the third and final debate. Did Sen. McCain get it? The polls say one thing, but do the pundits agree? The Polls According to a national poll that CNN conducted after the debate, 58% of people felt Barack Obama won the debate, while 31% felt that John McCain performed better. The poll also indicates that the majority of people polled felt Obama would do a better job on the economy, health care, and taxes. Additionally, those polled felt Obama was more likable and the stronger leader. While CNN's poll suggests an Obama landslide, the folks at Politico have different results. According to an "exclusive survey" of undecided voters, 49% of folks felt Sen. Obama won, while 46% believed Sen. McCain could claim victory. Politico notes that the 3-point difference is within the poll's margin of error. CBS News conducted its own poll of uncommitted voters and found that Barack Obama won the third debate by a wide margin: 53% believed that Sen. Obama was stronger while 22% sided with Sen. McCain. A full 25% thought it was too close to call. It wasn't all bad news for McCain, though. According to the poll, more uncommitted voters trust the Arizona senator to handle a crisis. The Pundits ABC analyst (and former Bill Clinton aide) George Stephanopoulos wrote that this was McCain's best effort, but that Obama was still the victor. Stephanopoulous credited Obama's ability to stay cool and not grow exasperated during his opponent's attacks. Fox News asked a collection of in-house experts who won the debate, and the opinions were...well...fair and balanced. Some felt that McCain was feisty (in a good way) and proved that he is ready for a fight. Others believed that McCain didn't score the huge hit he needed to stop Obama's momentum. Time's Mark Halperin graded both candidates on style, substance, offense, and defense. The columnist felt Obama did well (he earned a "B"), but that McCain bested him in all areas. The Maverick scored an A-. http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1850933,00.html Grading the Final Presidential Debate By Mark Halperin / Hempstead, N.Y. Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama speaks during the third presidential debate with Republican candidate John McCain at Hofstra University October 15, 2008 Spencer Platt / Getty Images Obama Substance: Intelligent, knowledgeable, and an earnest explainer, as always, but to no real effect. Though he conveyed a general sense of his agenda, he did so without bothering to fight ardently for his case. Grade: B Style: Appeared tired and irritable, and bore the ills of a poor make-up job. While initially seeming distracted and even resentful of the evening's activity, he eventually realized he needed to step up his game, and became more conversational and involved. Recovered after the rocky start to avoid anything transformative for his opponent. Grade: B- Offense: Rarely went after McCain, and when he did, was indirect and often too vague. Grade: C+ Defense: Unrattled by frequent McCain attacks, but a little peevish in addressing the allegations tossed his way. He strained to defend his positions on health care and taxes and failed to express a fully-formed alternative explanation. Relying on polling data to excuse himself for the campaign's negative tone and implicitly for going back on his word on campaign financing, he seemed indifferent towards the recent mutual harsh words, placing the blame firmly with his opposition. Grade: B+ During the first half of the debate, the Democratic nominee too often displayed his worst traitspetty, aloof, imperiousand behaved as if he had some place better to be, although he became warmer and more engaged as the evening progressed. He did not seem to have an explicit strategy, answering the questions piecemeal as they came his way, without driving a message or even a theme. He retained his consistently unflappable air, and had a few fine moments. If he was sitting on his lead, it workedbut perhaps at the expense of relinquishing part of it. Overall grade: B McCain Substance: Avoided the policy weeds, as usual, but sounded more engaged on his economic program, presenting a clear, thematic argument. He was also good on climate change, trade, taxes, and spending. It was an impressive performance from a politician who is generally more comfortable offering broad statements and displaying his compelling personality, than focusing on detail and nitty-gritty. Grade: A- Style For forty minutes, he was cogent, friendly, and yet sharp when he needed to be. Well aware of the stakes and his underdog circumstance, he worked hard to hit all his marks. Showed genuine empathy about the ramifications of the battered economy, small business struggles, and even childhood obesity. But he lost points during the second half of the session by falling back on the awkward, cranky tics that have marred his earlier performances. Grade: B+ Offense: Hit Obama again and again, almost always with authority and command rather than desperation. Repeatedly steered the evening's discussion to a plumber named Joe who talked about taxes with Obama during a recent campaign eventand scored points. He deftly used opposition research on Obama's record, and did so far more effectively than in the first two debates. Skillfully attacked his opponent for not keeping his word on campaign financing and for refusing to hold joint town meetings. At times, though, he became too agitated and lost focus, particularly when he raised the Ayers matterstill a negative bridge too far for many. Grade: A- Defense: Dramatically proclaimed "I am not President Bush" with toughness and clarity, in one of the few true "moments" in any of the debatesthe tangible ripple of reaction from the (albeit silent) crowd signaled that the video clip will be replayed many times. Grade: A- During the first half of the debate, the Republican nominee showed off the best of himselfdedicated, sincere, patriotic, cheery, earnest, commandingall without seeming old or anxious. He even scored some points in the "change" category, against the candidate who has owned the theme. He was also clear, upbeat, and totally on message. To his detriment, however, he became more aggressive and distracted during the second half, and perhaps lost a chance for the truly dramatic event he needs to change the game. Still, if a silent majority of persuadable voters watched the debate, they saw why McCain's advisers have faith in him and still believe he can win this race. Overall Grade: A- http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/15/debate.poll/index.html Poll: Debate watchers say Obama wins By Paul Steinhauser CNN Deputy Political Director HEMPSTEAD, New York (CNN) -- A majority of debate watchers think Sen. Barack Obama won the third and final presidential debate, according to a national poll conducted right afterward. Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain debate face to face Wednesday night. Fifty-eight percent of debate watchers questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll said Democratic candidate Obama did the best job in the debate, with 31 percent saying Republican Sen. John McCain performed best. The poll also suggests that debate watchers' favorable opinion of Obama rose slightly during the debate, from 63 percent at the start to 66 percent at the end. The poll indicates that McCain's favorables dropped slightly, from 51 percent to 49 percent. The economy was the dominant issue of the debate, and 59 percent of debate watchers polled said Obama would do a better job handling the economy, 24 points ahead of McCain. During the debate, McCain attacked Obama's stance on taxes, accusing Obama of seeking tax increases that would "spread the wealth around." But by 15 points, 56 percent to 41 percent, debate watchers polled said Obama would do a better job on taxes. By a 2-1 margin, 62 percent to 31 percent, debate watchers said Obama would do a better job on health care. Sixty-six percent of debate watchers said Obama more clearly expressed his views, with 25 percent saying McCain was more clear about his views. By 23 points, those polled said Obama was the stronger leader during the debate. By 48 points, they said Obama was more likeable. Watch entire debate: Part 1 » | Part 2 » | Part 3 » McCain won in two categories. Eighty percent of debate watchers polled said McCain spent more time attacking his opponent, with seven percent saying Obama was more on the attack. Fifty-four percent said McCain seemed more like a typical politician during the debate, with 35 percent saying Obama acted more like a typical politician. "Independents tend to prefer debates that are dominated by substance and light on discussion of personal characteristics," said Keating Holland, CNN polling director. "The perception that McCain attacked Obama gave red meat to GOP partisans, but it probably didn't help McCain with independents." "There was a notable gender gap as well," Holland said. "Women thought Obama won the debate by a 62 percent to 28 percent margin. Among men, Obama's lead was narrower, 54 percent to 35 percent in Obama's favor." During the debate, McCain demanded to know the full extent of Obama's relationship with William Ayers, a 1960s radical. But the poll suggests that line of attack may not resonate with Americans. Fifty-one percent of debate watchers said Obama's connection to Ayers didn't matter at all to them, with 23 percent saying it mattered a great deal. The audience for the debate poll appeared to be a bit more Democratic -- and a bit more Republican -- than the U.S. population as a whole. Forty percent of debate watchers in the survey were Democrats and 30 percent Republicans. CNN's estimate of the number of Democrats in the voting age population as a whole indicates the sample is about 3 to 4 points more Democratic than the population as a whole, but also about 2 to 3 points more Republican than the population as a whole. Eighty-eight percent of Democrats questioned in the poll said Obama did the best job, with 68 percent of Republicans saying McCain performed best. Among independents, 57 percent said Obama did the best job, with 31 percent backing McCain as the winner of the debate. The candidates first debated in Oxford, Mississippi, on September 26. Fifty-one percent of debate watchers polled by CNN and the Opinion Research Corp. said Obama won that debate, with 38 percent saying McCain performed best. The second presidential debate was held in Nashville, Tennessee, on October 7 and 54 percent of debate watchers polled said Obama won, compared with 30 percent who said McCain did the best job. The running mates, Democratic Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware and Republican Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska faced off in Saint Louis, Missouri, in the single vice presidential debate October 2. Fifty-one percent of debate watchers polled said Biden won, and 36 percent said Palin won. The post-debate polls do not reflect the views of all Americans. They only represent the views of people who watched the debates. The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll was conducted by telephone Wednesday night, with 620 adult Americans who watched the debate questioned. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.