HEMPSTEAD, New York (CNN) — A majority of debate watchers think Sen. Barack Obama won the third and final presidential debate, according to a national poll conducted right afterward.
Fifty-eight percent of debate watchers questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll said Democratic candidate Obama did the best job in the debate, with 31 percent saying Republican Sen. John McCain performed best.
The poll also suggests that debate watchers’ favorable opinion of Obama rose slightly during the debate, from 63 percent at the start to 66 percent at the end. The poll indicates that McCain’s favorables dropped slightly, from 51 percent to 49 percent.
The economy was the dominant issue of the debate, and 59 percent of debate watchers polled said Obama would do a better job handling the economy, 24 points ahead of McCain.
During the debate, McCain attacked Obama’s stance on taxes, accusing Obama of seeking tax increases that would “spread the wealth around.” But by 15 points, 56 percent to 41 percent, debate watchers polled said Obama would do a better job on taxes. By a 2-1 margin, 62 percent to 31 percent, debate watchers said Obama would do a better job on health care.
Sixty-six percent of debate watchers said Obama more clearly expressed his views, with 25 percent saying McCain was more clear about his views.
By 23 points, those polled said Obama was the stronger leader during the debate. By 48 points, they said Obama was more likeable. Watch entire debate: 
Part 1 » | Part 2 » | Part 3 »
McCain won in two categories. Eighty percent of debate watchers polled said McCain spent more time attacking his opponent, with seven percent saying Obama was more on the attack. Fifty-four percent said McCain seemed more like a typical politician during the debate, with 35 percent saying Obama acted more like a typical politician.
“Independents tend to prefer debates that are dominated by substance and light on discussion of personal characteristics,” said Keating Holland, CNN polling director. “The perception that McCain attacked Obama gave red meat to GOP partisans, but it probably didn’t help McCain with independents.”
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Transcript of debate
“There was a notable gender gap as well,” Holland said. “Women thought Obama won the debate by a 62 percent to 28 percent margin. Among men, Obama’s lead was narrower, 54 percent to 35 percent in Obama’s favor.”
During the debate, McCain demanded to know the full extent of Obama’s relationship with William Ayers, a 1960s radical. But the poll suggests that line of attack may not resonate with Americans. Fifty-one percent of debate watchers said Obama’s connection to Ayers didn’t matter at all to them, with 23 percent saying it mattered a great deal.
The audience for the debate poll appeared to be a bit more Democratic — and a bit more Republican — than the U.S. population as a whole. Forty percent of debate watchers in the survey were Democrats and 30 percent Republicans.
CNN’s estimate of the number of Democrats in the voting age population as a whole indicates the sample is about 3 to 4 points more Democratic than the population as a whole, but also about 2 to 3 points more Republican than the population as a whole.
Eighty-eight percent of Democrats questioned in the poll said Obama did the best job, with 68 percent of Republicans saying McCain performed best. Among independents, 57 percent said Obama did the best job, with 31 percent backing McCain as the winner of the debate.
The candidates first debated in Oxford, Mississippi, on September 26. Fifty-one percent of debate watchers polled by CNN and the Opinion Research Corp. said Obama won that debate, with 38 percent saying McCain performed best. The second presidential debate was held in Nashville, Tennessee, on October 7 and 54 percent of debate watchers polled said Obama won, compared with 30 percent who said McCain did the best job.
The running mates, Democratic Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware and Republican Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska faced off in Saint Louis, Missouri, in the single vice presidential debate October 2. Fifty-one percent of debate watchers polled said Biden won, and 36 percent said Palin won.
The post-debate polls do not reflect the views of all Americans. They only represent the views of people who watched the debates.
The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll was conducted by telephone Wednesday night, with 620 adult Americans who watched the debate questioned. The survey’s sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
October 16th, 2008 at 8:45 am
Look Obama will win if you vote him today every one of us who are Ethiopian American. One vote counts for victory. Obama has done his level best and struggle for our cause and it is up to us to vote for him. If ANY ONE OF US ARE NOT GOING TO CAST OUR VOTE FOR HIM THAT MEANS WE ARE NOT SUPPORTING HIM
MERE UTTERANCE IS NOT ENOUGH. ACTION IS WHAT IS REQUIRED FROM US. WE CAN GO OR MAIL AND VOTE FOR HIM AHEAD OF NOVEMBER 4.
JUST GO TO POLLS TO DAY OR MAIL IT TODAY NOT TOMORROW. NOT TOMORROW RIGHT ON TODAY. UNLESS YOU DO IT TO DAY TO VOTE FOR HIM YOU MAY NOT DO IT TOMORROW
SO MAIL IT OR GO TO THE POLLS TODAY
THIS IS OUR DAY IN HISTORY AND I REPEAT THIS IS THE DAY FOR EVERY ETHIOPIAN NOW TO VOTE A PRESIDENT THAT WE THINK WILL SYMPHATIZE OUR MOTHER LAND AND AFRICA
GO NOW AND VOTE
I BEG EVERY ONE OF YOU
October 16th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
እነ ሃጎሰ ጉደ ፈላባችሀው
October 16th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
ያደገውን የኢትዮጵያ ኢኮኖሚ ታዲያ ምን ሊውጠው ነው?የደደቢት ዲክታተሮች ከ ወዲሁ ማምለጫ ፈልጉ..ወይ ብራችሁን ወዳስቀመጣችሁበት ኢንዶኔዥያ …አለበለዚያ ትግራይዤያ …ለመፈርጠጥ ተዘጋጁ…ሱማሊያንም ቶሎ ልቀቁ..ትግራይን ሄዳችሁ አጥብቁ…ሮበርት ሙጋቤ እንክዋን ዲፕሎማሲ አንደርስታንድ ባረገበት በአሁኑ ዘመን…እኛ አገር ውስጥ ያሉ የደደቢት በረሮዎች በ ጋድ ፋዘራቸው ቡሽ አማክኝነት ለዘመናት ሲበጠብጡና ሲያስበጠብጡ ኖረዋል..ከ እንግዲህ ቡሽም የለም ..እነሱም አይኖሩም…የደደቢት የዲሞክራሲ ተስፋ ኮመዲያን….ዲሞክራሲ በጉልበት….ዲሞክራሲ በአፍ…ውስጣቸው ማሌሊት/ባንዲራቸው ይመሰክራል ቀይ በቢጫ ኮከብ/…ላያቸው…ጎጠኛ ዘረኛ…ታሪክ ና እውቀት አልባ ….ባዶ….የ ዘይት ቆርቆሮ… ኦባማ ምን ጊዜም
October 16th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
ኦባማ ለኢትዮጵያ የሚያመጣው ነገር የለም:: ኢትዮጵያዊያን ዘረኞች ስለሆነ ነው ኦባማን የምንደግፈው:: የምርጫው ቀን ጃን ማክን ያቸንፋል::
October 16th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
ፈትለወርቅ..ፈታላ ፈዳላ ምን ታውቃለህ..የ ዘጠና ሰባቱ ምርጫ መሰለህ እንዴ…
October 17th, 2008 at 4:23 am
Well, nothing is granted until after the election is closed. He (Obama) has warned the possibilities of New Hampshire effect unless his supporters work vigorously to push people vote (for him of course).
Having said that, the somalia’s troop pullout decision by Mr. Zenawi (http://ethiomedia.com/accent/8322.html) seems quite strategic that what’s thought by some Ethiopians as a failure pullout. While the Somalian intervention is a failed, misguided, and miscalculated decision, this recent pullout may have some political advantages and motives with regard to the ongoing American presidential election. Here is the case:
1) The pullout is undoubtedly prompted by the Bush Administration than by Meles himself. As such, during final days of the election, the media may talk more about the Islamis control and draw a parallel of the ongoing risk of growing terrorism. Though the republican party failed to succeed (rather to progress) in the war on terrorism, they will still use such rhetoric to rise people’s anxiety to tip back the issue to their advantage. So, as he (Mr. Meles) was remote commanded to invade Somalia, he will be again remote controlled to get out of Somalia as needed by the same administration who as been helping him tirelessly.
2) His pullout plan would give the Somali’s Islamist group greater control, if not absolute. That would in any way put the next American president in uncomfortable position about the Islamist control. So, Meles will say again: “hey, am there, at your order, Sir! Do you want me to go again? If so, I will do it immediately no matter how many Ethiopian guys will perish. I have the experience of human intensive war that perished more than 100,000 Ethiopians. What I expect from is that you should help me calm the domestic political failure as has been done by the Bush administration. …. ans so on” This is particularly a last chance argument if Mr. Obama will be the next American president.
So far, what we know about Mr. Obama is something like a man of principle, driven by his conscious, backed up by his master of complex issues, good judgment, etc to say the least. Hope that he will do something fundamentally beneficial to the people of Ethiopia if elected as the next president of America. If Mr. McCain is to win the next election, the situation in Ethiopia will undoubtedly continue as it has been during the Bush Administration.
October 17th, 2008 at 6:58 am
fetlwork
ምነው ፈትለወርቅ ልሃጭን የምታንጠባጥ ቦታ አተነው በ emf ዊብ ዛይቴ ላይ!!ጆሮየ ተደፍኖ ነበር ካልክ ዘረኛቹ እማ ምንም እፍረት ሳይዛቸው ነው በአደባባይ (ኦማባ) ጥቁር ስለሆነ በጭራሽ የ usa ፐሬዝደንት እንዲሆን አንፈልግም አንመርጠውም ያሉት። ከዛም ባሻገር ላሰታውስህ /ባርቴን ኪንግ/ ማነው የገደለው ፍርዱን ላንተ ትቺለሃለው!ዛሬ ኦማባ የፐሬዝደንት ምርጫ ቢሽነፍ ነገም እንደ ዛሬው የጡቁሮች ትግል ይቀጥላል፡ እኛ ኢትዮጵዊኖች አፍሪካዊነታችን እረስተን /ጥቁርነታችን/ አባቶቻችን ያላስተማሩንን አን ኤርትራ,አማራ,ኦሮሞ,ትግሬ ወዘተ ማቆሚ አተን ያለነው።
October 17th, 2008 at 7:06 am
EMF. whats wrong with our comment????????????? PLS GIVE US OUR FREEDOM. iam glad the way i support EPRDF. and iam not from some where iam real ethiopiawi so WHY YOU DON’T PUT MY COMMENT IN YOUR WEBSITE????????????????????? THANK_U
GOD BLESS MELES ZEMZNAWI(NOT QIZENAWI) BALEAGEWOCH HULU.
DEATH TO ALL ANTY WOYANES VIVA AGAZI.
October 18th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Obama is going to win the 2008 US Presidential Election.
If he is elected, he will be hte first Black American President.
This will be the new political arena in US politics.
Obama knows the constitution better than Mr. B. and McCain.
Let’s go to election center and vote. This is our time.
I am making under $250k a year and Obama is my choice.
Obama will help democracy restoration in Africa.
Obama will win and we will celebrate at 11/02/08.