September 27, 2008
Washington Voters Say McCain Won First Debate
"polite society" by Seattlest Flickr pool contributor gaijinrunner
According to SurveyUSA (actually one of the best pollsters in the business), Washington voters thought John McCain performed better in last night's first Presidential debate.
Immediately following tonight's debate between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, SurveyUSA interviewed 1,000 state of Washington adults, of whom 631 watched tonight's debate.Of all debate watchers:
40% say McCain was the clear winner.
38% say Obama was the clear winner.
23% say there was no clear winner.But Independents, the most critical, coveted and arguably most dispassionate group of debate watcher, gave by 4:3 the nod to McCain. Republicans by 6:1 say McCain won. Democrats by 6:1 say Obama won. Those two groups offset.
Debate watchers say McCain understands Iraq better, McCain understands Iran better, McCain understands Russia better. Debate watchers split on who they trust more on the economy, split on who was more Presidential. Overwhelmingly, debate watchers say moderator Jim Lehrer was fair to both candidates. About half wish Lehrer had spent more time on the economy.
This conclusion--which is insignificant, given the survey's +/-4% margin of error--is in direct contrast with most polls and focus groups (even the one on FOX), which indicated that Obama was the debate's clear winner among the general public, including self-described independents and uncommitted voters. SurveyUSA conducted a similar poll in California, only to find the opposite results, with 53% saying Obama was the clear winner and independents breaking for Obama 43-37. In both states, voters wanted more discussion about the economy, thought McCain looked tired, thought Obama looked Presidential, and thought Jim Lehrer was fair in his treatment of both candidates.
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it's so hard to separate from my clear democratic biases at this point in the campaign, despite my cynicism about obama during the primaries. but i really felt like they both did quite well last night. i thought it was a pretty even-steven outcome. i disagree with almost everything mccain said, but i thought he argued well. i agree with just about everything obama said, but i felt like he didn't always argue well. i'd give them both a C.
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i have to add, though, that if hillary had been there, she would have completely, hands down, killed in that debate! i missed her.
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Other pollsters point to an Obama "victory" (if there is such as a thing as winning a presidential debate):
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/09/why-voters-thought-obama-won.html
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A broken clock is right twice a day.
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It was the most boring debate I have ever seen. And I have seen debates between small town mayoral candidates. Which is actually pretty cool.
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does anybody know what mccain was talking about when he said that south koreans are, on average, 3 inches taller than north koreans?
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I believe that was a reference to rampant malnutrition in North Korea. I was more confused when he started talking about the Ukraine. That sidenote was way over my head.
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Ukraine (and, as a matter of pride and foreign relations, it's "Ukraine" and not "the Ukraine", which also bummed me out to hear Obama say that as well, especially when he was there only two years ago visiting an armaments plant to develop a "disarmament" strategy) plays a vital role in the whole Russian/Georgian conflict in that its southern ports (which are being leased by Ukraine to Russia until 2013) give Russia better access to Georgia, rather than going through the Caucasis Mountains. Ukraine almost stepped into the conflict when they tried to block Russia from using the port during the aggression.
Why should this matter to you? Well, the more countries that get involved in Russia's craziness, the more pervasive the threat is to our NATO allies. I winced when I saw McCain "got it" and Obama didn't. In fact, he completely dodged the rest of the subject when he launched into the whole solar power thing. WTF?
McCain did sound like an idiot, though, when he spelled out K-G-B. That just smacked of cold war cronyism. I just hope Obama gets his foreign policy issues squared for the next debate, but in the meantime, I'll enjoy Joe Biden mopping the floor with Sarah Palin.