Obama picks up second debate win, poll says

[Praxius]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/08/debate.poll/index.html

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.

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.

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.

"For McCain, the key finding may be that his favorable rating did not change at all," Holland said. "It's unclear whether Obama will gain any momentum from Tuesday night's debate, but it looks like McCain will not do so. For a candidate who has consistently been a few points behind in national polls, that's not a good sign."

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.

Among Democrats, 85 percent said Obama won with just 5 percent saying McCain did better. Among Republicans, 64 percent said McCain won, with 16 percent saying Obama did better.

Most debate watchers thought Obama won the first presidential debate on September 26. According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll taken after that debate, 51 percent of those polled thought Obama did the better job, while 38 percent said John McCain did better.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll was conducted by telephone with 675 adult Americans who watched the debate. All interviews were taken after the end of the debate.

The audience for Tuesday's debate was 38 percent Democratic and 31 percent Republican, which is very close to the partisan breakdown among all Americans nationwide. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Like I said, the more time there is for McCain to fill up before the election, the more it seems people are seeing just how useless he really is.

 

[earth_as_one]

McCain is history, unless something radical happens soon. President Barack Hussein Obama...

 

[Walter]

McCain is history, unless something radical happens soon. President Barack Hussein Obama...

Some people think W was bad; if Barry gets in you ain't seen nuthin yet. Osama is licking his chops.

 

[EagleSmack]

It does look like Obama is pulling away from McCaine. I think his odds are pretty good at winning this election.

 

[Praxius]

It does look like Obama is pulling away from McCaine. I think his odds are pretty good at winning this election.

Agreed.... however, if he does win, the next question is how long will he live.

 

[Avro]

Wow, I never ever thought a black liberal would win in a conservative country like the U.S., but considering how much the cons have f**ked up the country I can't blame Americans for doing the right thing and kicking the cons out on the street.

I was wrong McCain won't win this unless they have some super duper October surprise.

 

[EagleSmack]

I find that odd because a lot of your posts seem more conservative than liberal. JMO.

I think most Americans are from the center and vote with their pocketbook. The Dems put up the biggest moron liberal (Kerry) in history against the most unpopular president and lost. Obama offers a little more than that trust fund gold digger from Massachusetts.

Even the name of his yacht made people laugh...

The "SCATA-MOOSH"

 

[Kreskin]

McCain should've been elected in 2000 while he still had some good years ahead of him. Too bad Bush did the character assassination thing on him. I have no doubt the world would be a different place if he and not Bush had been in for the last 8 years. If it's any consolation, no matter what Obama does it can't be any worse than Bush. Also, if the US wants to take a serious kick at the can with alternative energy it simply won't come from the oil-lobbiest controlled Republican party. Maybe the next generation of Republicans will punt the oil team out but for now that is the change that's badly needed.

 

[EagleSmack]

The GOP can't toss out the oil interests because the Dems have no viable alternative. Unfortunately oil is all we have. The Dems are against nuclear and hydro, solar and wind is not abundant enough to power this country. The Dems pick on big oil just to get votes as they burn up just as much fuel as anyone else. They are just as dependant on oil. Sure they want us to conserve but I have yet to see any of them cut back on their lifestyle.

Take "Cape Wind" for example. A proposal to make a wind farm of Hyannis Massachusetts to power Cape Cod. All of the Kennedy's are against it.

Why?

Because that is where they sail their yachts thats why! Wind power is great...just not in their backyard. The common citizen won't see the windmill farm but the Kennedy Clan will when they are sailing and they are fighting tooth and nail to stop it. So alternative energy is A-OK...just as long as it is in someone elses playground.

My opinion is nuclear but nobody dares go there anymore.

 

[Avro]

I find that odd because a lot of your posts seem more conservative than liberal. JMO.

I think most Americans are from the center and vote with their pocketbook. The Dems put up the biggest moron liberal (Kerry) in history against the most unpopular president and lost. Obama offers a little more than that trust fund gold digger from Massachusetts.

Even the name of his yacht made people laugh...

The "SCATA-MOOSH"

I'm neither, I don't subscribe to a single ideology, they all have positives and negatives.

Only sheep think in the absolute.

However, to be honest I do lean more to the left than to the right only because of my strong support of public health care, public education and publicly funded infrastructure like cheap efficient transit.....oh and I've hugged a tree now and then.;-)

 

[Kreskin]

The GOP can't toss out the oil interests because the Dems have no viable alternative. Unfortunately oil is all we have. The Dems are against nuclear and hydro, solar and wind is not abundant enough to power this country. The Dems pick on big oil just to get votes as they burn up just as much fuel as anyone else. They are just as dependant on oil. Sure they want us to conserve but I have yet to see any of them cut back on their lifestyle.

Take "Cape Wind" for example. A proposal to make a wind farm of Hyannis Massachusetts to power Cape Cod. All of the Kennedy's are against it.

Why?

Because that is where they sail their yachts thats why! Wind power is great...just not in their backyard. The common citizen won't see the windmill farm but the Kennedy Clan will when they are sailing and they are fighting tooth and nail to stop it. So alternative energy is A-OK...just as long as it is in someone elses playground.

My opinion is nuclear but nobody dares go there anymore.

No one seems to buy into anything under the Bush leadership. He blew it completely when after 9-11 he could've got the entire nation to buy into an alternative energy plan at just about any cost. Instead he divided the country and the world. That Cape Cod plan sounds like one of those political tricks - park a proposal in front of the Kennedy compound to prove there is no political will to leave the status quo.

Putting someone like Bush in charge on energy plan is like putting the mayor of Fort McMurray in charge of reducing the need for oil. The conflict of interest is too much to expect any change.

 

[EagleSmack]

No one seems to buy into anything under the Bush leadership. He blew it completely when after 9-11 he could've got the entire nation to buy into an alternative energy plan at just about any cost. Instead he divided the country and the world. That Cape Cod plan sounds like one of those political tricks - park a proposal in front of the Kennedy compound to prove there is no political will to leave the status quo.

Putting someone like Bush in charge on energy plan is like putting the mayor of Fort McMurray in charge of reducing the need for oil. The conflict of interest is too much to expect any change.

The Cape Wind Project was not a political trick. It wasn't a GOP conspiracy. You would not be able to see it from the shore. It is simply a great place to put a wind turbine farm and the only people affected will be the wealthy who sail their yachts in the summer. The Kennedy's and the other beautiful people and their constant cries for alternative energy should be happy to know that Cape Cod will recieve all their electricity from wind and not oil. Alas...it is not to be. Yachts and sailing are far more important than the environment.

As far as Bush is concerned...he is done. In less than 30 days we will pretty much have a new President, most likely Obama. Although I do like Bush I will be happy to see him go. Far to polarizing for my tastes. I will vote for McCaine most likely but I live here in Massachusetts and Obama will carry this state easily as every Democrat has done except Reagan vs Carter. So my vote will be for naught.

 

[talloola]

Irrespective of how far ahead Obama is in the polls, I will believe it when I see it, that Obama actually wins the election.
A prominent black 'governor', last night, on an interview, stated that, although Obama is
obviously the leading choice for president, he doubts that everyone who 'states' that they
will vote for him, 'actually' will.
He stated that the ugly head of racism is strong 'still', in the country, and it is not talked about much, but he thinks that many people, 'when in the polling booth', will not bring
themselves to vote for a 'black man', even though they want to.
He warned 'not' to get too enthusiastic or excited, until all the votes are in.

 

[Kreskin]

The Cape Wind Project was not a political trick. It wasn't a GOP conspiracy. You would not be able to see it from the shore. It is simply a great place to put a wind turbine farm and the only people affected will be the wealthy who sail their yachts in the summer. The Kennedy's and the other beautiful people and their constant cries for alternative energy should be happy to know that Cape Cod will recieve all their electricity from wind and not oil. Alas...it is not to be. Yachts and sailing are far more important than the environment.

As far as Bush is concerned...he is done. In less than 30 days we will pretty much have a new President, most likely Obama. Although I do like Bush I will be happy to see him go. Far to polarizing for my tastes. I will vote for McCaine most likely but I live here in Massachusetts and Obama will carry this state easily as every Democrat has done except Reagan vs Carter. So my vote will be for naught.

I actually hoped Bush would win in 2000. It wasn't like I was hoping for him to fail. When 9-11 occurred the entire world was behind him, let alone Democrats. Then came the diviseness.."you're either with us or against us". Even the media couldn't challenge him without being questioned about their patriotism. Congress was required to back him with the power to go to war in Iraq or else they too would've suffered the anti-patriotism consequences. It was un-American to do anything but back Bush in the war on terror, no matter what tactics were being deployed. The "Patriot Act". By design, one who doesn't support the Patriot Act is unpatriotic. Watching from a distance the whole administration looked Nazi-like. It still does. At the Republican Convention any words or phrases relating to war were followed by collective chants and fist-pumping. It was like watching a cult that needs an enemy to be relevant - all in the name of God. And while all that has been going on they've been clouding the need for alternative energy with the global warming debate - denying that fossil fuels are an ecological concern at all. It has been a playground for the wealthy at the expense of everyone. Is it any wonder why a few wealthy souls in Cape Cod can throw a wrench into what's good for everyone? The nation has been conditioned to accept two "national interests"; national defense and access to worldwide oil markets. Nothing else is considered a national interest.

Obama has been campaigning for nearly two years. His message remains pretty much the same today as it did when he started. The need for change is overdue. He might not be a good President, if in fact he's elected, but his heart appears to be in the right place. I think more than anything that is what's attracting people to him.