To me, the debate was painful to watch. McCain was such a loose cannon, firing shot after scatter shot at Obama, so that initially Obama was a bit off balance trying to respond to it all -- and frustrated to be on the defensive. It showed. But then he got his balance back, pivoted and was very effective in countering McCain's exasperating, picky approach.
McCain's base thought he was good, simply because he was aggressive. That soon wore very thin, especially with undecided voters. I thought he was obnoxious, and I wasn't even watching on a channel with split screen images to show his reactions while Obama was talking. Apparently that made it even worse.
Marty Kaplan wrote: "Ninety minutes of John McCain making faces was more than enough for a lifetime. He smirked. He grimaced. He sneered. He fake-smiled. It's hard to imagine anyone willingly inviting that antic lemon-sucking grinfest into their homes for the next four years."
And then the instant polls came in and exceeded my wildest hopes: CBS instant polls of a group of uncommitted voters on who won: Obama 53%, McCain 22%. Similar results at CNN, 58-31.
And the internal questions were ever worse for McCain:
Who expressed his views more clearly? Obama 66%, McCain 25%
Who seemed to be the stronger leader? Obama 56%, McCain 39%
Who was more likeable? Obama 70%, McCain 22%
Who spent time attacking opponent? Obama 7%, McCain 80%
In another focus group of undecided voters in Colorado conducted by Stan Greenberg, changes in favorable/unfavorable ratings were dramatic:
McCain, before debate: 54 favorable / 34 unfavorable
McCain, after debate: 50 favorable / 48 unfavorable
Obama, before debate: 42 favorable / 42 unfavorable
Obama, after debate: 72 favorable / 22 unfavorable
In previous debates, similar instant polls have been more or less matched by later polls.
Obama's team can start measuring the drapes now.
Ralph
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4 comments:
It's hard to imagine voting for McCain himself - maybe voting Conservative, or Pro-Life, or Pro-Business, or Anti-Liberal - but not for McCain. He seemed kind of crazed, even when he was making a decent point.
And it's hard to imagine what he'll be like on Letterman.
Thanks for looking up the polls. They're reassuring. I was in a fog after watching him. His hatefulness just stops me in my tracks...
I agree with what both of you say. However, did you watch the CNN chart on voter response? When McCain spoke, for the most part, men and women's attitudes towards him coincided, rising and falling almost as one line. When Obama spoke, they often diverged greatly; many times women responded in a highly positive manner, while men lurked below the midline.
What does this mean? My first inclination is to suspect this reveals the latent racism of 'undecided' men in Ohio who seem reluctant, at best, to actually listen to an African-American.
You did see the interview with Joe the Plumber, where he admitted he doesn't fall into Obama's high tax bracket? A bit of deception there on both his and McCain's part.
Joe the Plumber also is quoted, on The National Review site, as worrying that people on Welfare will get more benefits and Obama's health care plan is Socialist and that the way to go is deregulate deregulate deregulate.
He may be good at pipes, but is this really a guy you want to cite for his 'ideas'?
Ricard, you may be right that the male/female divergence on Obama represents lurking racism. I think it might also be a macho thing. McCain, for all his craziness, comes across as macho (not a good thing in my book), while Obama's intellect and nuance and less aggressive persona make him seem less so.
Probably it's some of both. These were Ohio voters, I believe who were turning the dials. So it's Joe-Sixpack country.
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