Quick polls give Obama edge in presidential debate with McCain
Last Updated: Saturday, September 27, 2008 | 2:45 PM ET
The Associated Press
Two one-night polls have given Barack Obama a clear edge over John McCain in their first U.S. presidential debate.
Fifty-one per cent said Obama, the Democrat, did a better job in Friday night's faceoff, while 38 per cent preferred the Republican, McCain, according to a CNN-Opinion Research Corp. survey of adults.
Obama was widely considered more intelligent, likable and in touch with people's problems, and by modest margins was seen as the stronger leader and more sincere.
Most said it was McCain who spent more time attacking his opponent.
About six in 10 said each did a better job than expected. Seven in 10 said each seemed capable of being president.
In a CBS News poll of people who are not committed to a candidate, 39 per cent said Obama won the debate, 24 per cent said McCain won and 37 per cent called it a tie. Obama outpolled McCain two-to-one on the question of who understands their needs better.
Seventy-eight per cent said McCain is prepared to be president, about the same proportion of uncommitted voters as said so before the debate. Sixty per cent said Obama is ready — a lower score than McCain, but a solid 16-percentage-point improvement from before the debate.
View of McCain didn't worsen: poll
In another Obama advantage in the CBS poll, far more said their image of him had improved as a result of the debate than said it had worsened. More also said their view of McCain had gotten better rather than worse, but by a modest margin.
The CNN poll involved telephone interviews with 524 adults who watched the debate and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
The CBS survey involved online interviews with 483 uncommitted voters who saw the debate and had an error margin of plus or minus four points. It was conducted by Knowledge Networks, which initially selected the respondents by telephone.
Both polls were conducted Friday night.
Polls conducted on one night can be less reliable than surveys conducted over several nights because they only include the views of people available that particular evening.
