fayfreethinkers.com

DOUG
I thought it was a narrow edge to McCain in the first debate, since Obama was often on the defensive. (On the other hand, I missed the first part of the debate.) But I was pleased to see that others saw it differently. In fact, even some conservative pundits (such as George Will) gave the edge to Obama, and, most importantly, independents thought Obama came out ahead.

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Independents in the MediaCurves focus group "gave the debate to Obama 61-39. They also think he won every individual segment. Republicans gave the debate to McCain 90-10, Democrats to Obama 93-7."

And even Time's Mark Halperin weighs in with his grades: Obama A-, McCain B-.

Update: CNN's poll has all Obama winning overall, on the economy and on Iraq:

Who Did the Best Job In the Debate?
Obama 51%
McCain 38%

Who Would Better Handle Economy?
Obama 58%
McCain 37%

Who Would Better Handle Iraq?
Obama 52%
McCain 47%

See here.

DOUG
More stats:

A new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows 46% of people who watched Friday night's presidential debate say Democrat Barack Obama did a better job than Republican John McCain; 34% said McCain did better.

Obama scored even better -- 52%-35% -- when debate-watchers were asked which candidate offered the best proposals for change to solve the country’s problems.

More than six in 10 people or 63% in the one-day poll, taken Saturday, said they watched the first faceoff in Oxford, Miss. For those 701 people, the margin of error was +/- 4 percentage points.

The poll suggested the debate was to some extent a wash for McCain: 21% of those who watched say it gave them a more favorable view of him, 21% say less favorable and 56% say it didn't change their opinion much.

Three in 10 said their opinion of Obama became more favorable after seeing the debate, compared to 14% who said less favorable and 54% who said it didn't make much difference.

See more statistical breakdowns here.

I watched parts of the debate, as much as I could without being rude to party hosts, and was surprised at how well McCain did. That doesn't mean he did a great job, it just means he did a lot better than I expected him to do. I would have said the whole thing was a wash, which actually leans in favor of McCain merely because he was expected to be a complete flop (or even lose his temper! I think a lot of people watched with the same anticipation as a Nascar race, just waiting for the explosion). The fact that Obama didn't completely crush him was a plus for McCain.

I'm glad Obama is coming out ahead in the opinion polls. I think that 34% who think McCain "won" is a telling number. That's how many people cling to the McCain/Palin ticket in spite of all the pitfalls and pratfalls of the last week, making it glaringly obvious they are the wrong choice. And unless anything dramatic happens in the next month, that's the percentage of votes he'll get in November.

By the way, anybody see the new Saturday night live skits last night? A new Tina Fey/Sarah Palin interview with Katie Couric, and a lampoon of the debates. Go to nbc.com and watch if you haven't already! Laugh out loud funny!

I didn't see the debate - will try to find it on the net - but unfortunately, just like W not making a major gaffe meant he "won", McCain not blowing up means he "won" to way too many people. Rs - the terrible tyranny of low expectations.