Debate exclusive: Obama wins by a hair

[ConcernedCanuk]

Source: Politico via Yahoo! News

.
.
.

Debate exclusive: Obama wins by a hair

Alexander Burns 2 hours, 8 minutes ago

/snip/

Forty-nine percent of respondents said that Obama won the debate, compared to 46 who believed his opponent, Sen. John McCain, came out on top. The three-point gap separating the two candidates was equal to the poll’s margin of error.

/snip/

The poll was conducted over a 15-minute period following the completion of the presidential debate, testing 715 respondents with a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points. The sample of uncommitted, likely voters, was selected from a pool of 160,000 voters across the country, and the results were demographically weighted.

“This poll, unlike some others, asked only one question, and that is who won the debate, and then asked the demographic questions in order to process the poll. If we asked any more questions, no one could physically have finished it in time to analyze it in the 11-12 o’clock hour,” said InsiderAdvantage pollster Matt Towery. “We went to extraordinary levels to make sure that everyone taking the poll was truly undecided.”

/snip/

Tonight’s poll is the first post-debate survey commissioned by Politico and conducted by InsiderAdvantage.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20081016/pl_politico/14618

[Marsala]

1. “We went to extraordinary levels to make sure that everyone taking the poll was truly undecided.”

Oh boy. They must have polled the most stupid, indecisive people in America.

[Porschenut1066]

3. They used to be indecisive but, now their not too sure.

[Lifetimedem]

9. my own feeling

is that the people left in the undecided column have a problem with race. I think on one hand it is clear who is the better candidate on the other they do not know if they can vote for a black man.

[fjc]

13. That's about right.

[qwlauren35]

17. NO. It's not the only reason.

I think McCain hit the nail on the head when he spoke about "Rights of the Unborn". His phraseology made it clear that for people who agree on this issue, they cannot imagine abortion *ever* being okay. These are the people who think that doctors who perform abortions are murders; these are the people who cheer when someone bombs a clinic or shoots a doctor.

And the people who are a bit to the left of the extremists are very challenged about the idea of choosing someone who supports abortion, but would be better on the economy.

Second... is the uninformed. The people who don't read papers, watch the news, blog, get e-mail, etc. Those who pay no attention to politics whatsoever. OF COURSE they are undecided. They are being bombarded with information overload, and don't have the tools to separate wheat from chafe.

For example, some people really like Sarah Palin... people who don't watch Katie Couric interviews, listen to pundits, read newspapers, or blog. People who don't do those things don't know that she's unqualified.

Sometimes I think we have several different Americas. But the most obvious split is caused by the digital divide, and how we process information. Some of us can take a lot in, some of us know how to pick and choose, and some people avoid it like the plague. It's those last people who are going to be undecided. And those of us with access to vast quantities of information don't get it...

[ConcernedCanuk]

19. "those of us with access to vast quantities of information don't get it..." - exactly

.
.
.

Many people only read one newspaper, if that

and/or only watch one TV newscast - CNN/Fox/CBC, whatever, as long as it doesn't interfere with their soaps, movies, sports etc.

Many pay no attention and just vote as they, their friends and family always have regardless of the issues.

I read(on-line) newspapers from every Continent, follow stories to the hometown newspapers - haven't watched TV for almost 4 years - I don't think I'm missing much - and rarely ever listen to radio.

Regarding this thread - over 1500 views, only one recommendation and 18 responses.

I caution those who comfort themselves with flippant remarks to not get too comfortable with the idea that because YOU see McCain and Palin as foregone losers, that the Repubs don't have a chance.

Bush got (s)elected TWICE

We got Harper TWICE

Shit happens . . .

[depakid]

2. "Tonight’s poll is the first post-debate survey commissioned by Politico"

Apparently they missed the mark.

Badly.

[soothsayer]

4. McCain lost by a tongue.

[obiwan]

5. I am not the most intelligent person in the world, but I have NO problems making up my mind.

These "undecided" people are wishy-washy milquetoasts.

The choice couldn't be more clear.

Obama won "by a hair?" Pretty fucking big hair, IMHO.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

16. They need to measure the hair by length and not width

that being said, McLame lost by a mile.

[LiberalLovinLug]

6. There are no real undecided voters

not this close to the election. If you can't see that Barack Obama is the only clear choice for change, then you are just pretending to be undecided and are full of kkkoolaid. Either that or you love war, depression, wall street fraud, and screwing the little guy which makes you a grade A asshole and dumb as a bag of bricks.

Many of these self declared undecided joe-sixpacks that voted for McCain as the winner are nothing but Repuke stooges.

[ozymandius]

7. The question needs to be asked:

Who in the world could possibly be undecided at this point?

Where do they find these people?

[Raschel]

10. John McCain is nuttier than squirrel poop. Who couldn't see that last night?

And what was with McCain saying about Todd Palin, "he's a pretty tough guy, too"?

[4lbs]

8. Eh, the undecideds are now about 6 percent. Even if they are evenly split, that's still not enough

for McCain to win.

Especially since another poll, the Marketwatch one, shows Obama winning Independents 59% to 30%.

[tomg]

11. Obama won by a hair?

[bettyellen]

14. how'd you get ahold of my baby pictures?

[unkachuck]

21. cousin It, is that you?....n/t

[bettyellen]

22. sadly, yes!

[Life Long Dem]

12. They fail to say the country they polled. But I think even Greenland would have polled higher.

[Captiosus]

15. They just showed all the "after debate" snap polls on MSNBC

and Politico's stuck out like a sore thumb.

Politico was either way off the mark with the way they polled or they're openly showing some bias.

If there ARE any undecideds and they looked at these three polls, the Politico one will only make them think someone fails at polling when two big name MSM ones are radically different.

[high density]

18. Reporters really need to learn what "margin of error" means

That includes Keith Olbermann.

[sofa king]

20. So... who are these undecided voters, anyway?

http://crooksandliars.com/silentpatriot/daily-show-undecided-voters-aka-stup

"As you can see, they fall into a variety of categories: Attention seekers; racist Democrats; the chronically insecure; and 'the stupid.'"