LA Times Poll Shows Debate Watchers Find Obama More Presidential

I’ve previously noted (here and here) how the polls have consistently showed that Barack Obama won the first debate, with this leading to a greater lead for Obama in the national tracking polls today.  Marc Ambinder observes that, “Not a single post-debate poll gave the advantage to Sen. McCain.”  He specifically notes advantages for Obama reported in a poll from The Los Angeles Times:

Forget the top-line numbers — note that the poll “indicated that the younger, less-experienced Obama has made strides since last week in convincing Americans that he can handle the toughest challenges facing the country, including the economy and international affairs. Obama was seen as more “presidential” by 46% of the debate watchers, compared with 33% for McCain. The difference is even more pronounced among debate watchers who were not firmly committed to a candidate: 44% said they believed Obama looked more presidential, whereas 16% gave McCain the advantage.”

Even some conservative pundits agreed that Obama won. Crooks and Liars has a video of Dick Morris getting Sean Hannity upset by saying favorable things about Obama such as that, “Obama came across as really knowing and caring about the problems of the average person. I also thought McCain blew it by not focusing on why he suspended his campaign, why he wasn’t going to go to the debate.”

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