Hyper-partisan that I am, I can’t honestly say that last night’s debate was an Obama win. But the emerging consensus certainly says otherwise. Especially given that McCain went into this debate as the presumed winner, with an 11-point edge on foreign policy, anything resembling a draw is an Obama victory.
The pundits are saying that McCain came off as a cranky, lecturing, old man, and more telling, showed outright contempt (and therefore weakness) by refusing to look Obama in the eye, calling to mind a previous seminal televised debate. The various online polls, all freeped [including this WSJ poll, presumably behind the paywall], are clearly in Obama’s favor by a 40-point margin or more. Focus groups, snap polls, and betting indicators also reflect a solid Obama win. Even 27% of Drudge’s hyper-partisan followers were unable to assign victory to McCain.
Nate Silver at fivethirtyeight reads the entrails so you don’t have to…
Tags: Barack Obama, Debate, John McCain, online polls
