Debate + Economy + Palin = Shift to Obama

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Debate + Economy + Palin = Shift to Obama
By Bruce Drake, CQ Staff
Barack Obama has gained momentum thanks to his performance in the first presidential debate, growing doubts about Sarah Palin and the level of trust he appears to have with the public on the economy in general and the financial crisis in specific, according to a series of national and state polls.

A Pew Research Center survey said Obama’s debate performance was judged by voters to be better than John McCain ’s; opinions about Palin have become increasingly negative; and the economy and not world conflicts or natural disasters are dominating the public’s attention, and voters see Obama as the better choice to deal with the financial turmoil.

The poll, conducted Sept. 27-29, had Obama ahead of McCain by 49 percent to 43 percent among likely voters. These were its findings on the three factors it said were contributing to Obama’s recent gains:

• The debate: Voters gave higher marks for doing an excellent or good job to Obama by 72 percent to 59 percent. Asked for one-word impressions of each candidate from the debate, 50 percent of those surveyed described Obama as “confident,” 31 percent said “inexperienced,” 31 percent said “intelligent” and 28 percent said “presidential.” For McCain, 61 percent said “experienced,” 38 percent said “old,” 33 percent said “knowledgeable” and 26 percent said “confident.” The debate did not appear to do much to sway the opinion of independents.

more:http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docid=news-000002968525