CURRENT POLLS: Early October 2008
Voters Say Obama Won Debate, McCain More Prepared To Be President
Rasmussen Reports, Thursday, October 9, 2008
After [the second] presidential debate:
• Voters say Barack Obama beat John McCain debate 45% to 28%.
• More than 28% voters didn’t pick either man as the winner of the debate.
• 61% say McCain is prepared to be president.
• 50% say Obama is prepared to be president.
• 10% of voters in the new survey say they did not watch any of the second presidential debate.
• 55% say they watched all of it.
• Among those who watched all of the debate, Obama won even more decisively 57% to 29%.
• 52% of voters gave moderator Tom Brokaw good or excellent marks for his performance.
• 12% gave moderator Tom Brokaw poor marks for his performance.
In a survey right before the debate:
• 62% expected Brokaw to be neutral as moderator.
• 25% said he would try to help Obama.
45% Say Biden Won Debate, 37% Say Palin
Rasmussen Reports, Saturday, October 4, 2008
The Vice Presidential debate on Thursday night attracted a bigger television audience than the Presidential debate a week earlier, but is not likely to have much of an impact on the results of Election 2008.
• 45% of voters thought Biden won the debate.
• 37% of voters thought Palin won the debate.
• Obama supporters favored Biden 81% to 3%.
• McCain supporters favored Palin 76% to 5%.
• Government employees favored Biden 59% to 22%.
• Entrepreneurs narrowly gave the edge to Palin.
• Retired Americans were evenly divided.
• 44% of those who work for someone else in the private sector named Biden the winner.
• 37% of those who work for someone else in the private sector named Palin the winner.
• Middle class earners (those making between $40,000 and $100,000 annually) narrowly favored Palin.
• Those who earn less than $40,000 or more than $100,000 strongly favored Biden.
• Voters under 40 favored Biden.
• Voters over 65 favored Palin.
• Voters aged 40-65 were evenly divided.
Following the debate:
• 59% had a favorable opinion of Biden.
• 53% had a favorable opinion of Palin.
Opinions about Palin remain stronger:
• 36% have a Very Favorable opinion of her.
• 29% have a Very Unfavorable opinion of her.
For Biden:
• 25% have a Very Favorable opinion of him.
• 17% have a Very Unfavorable opinion of him.
Despite the controversy raised about moderator Gwen Ifill’s potential conflict of interest:
• 73% of voters say she played a neutral role in the debate.
• 15% say she tried to help Biden.
• 3% say she tried to help Palin.
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