Sept. 29 The presidential debate changed the preferences of few voters, reinforcing previous perceptions about the candidates' strengths and continuing to give Democrat Barack Obama an advantage over Republican John McCain.
Voters who watched the Sept. 26 debate preferred Obama, 49 percent to 44 percent, according to a Bloomberg News/Los Angeles Times poll of 448 respondents over the weekend. Obama scored much higher among these voters on the economy, as he did in a national poll last week, and McCain reaffirmed the perception that he is better on national security.
One potentially important finding among these debate watchers is that while McCain retained his advantage on experience, voters said Obama seemed more presidential by a 46 percent to 33 percent margin. Among those uncertain about their vote -- those who are either undecided or declaring they may change preference -- Obama was more than 2-to-1 ahead of McCain on this question.
``The thing that helped Obama slightly is that he seemed more presidential,'' said Susan Pinkus, who conducts the poll. ``He passed the presidential test.'' By a small margin, more people said they thought Obama ``won'' the debate.
Both the debate and the poll were conducted in the middle of high-level negotiations over a controversial plan to have the federal government rescue financial firms. Illinois Senator Obama, 47, continued to do better than his opponent on the question of who would best handle this crisis next year, by 48 percent to 36 percent.
`Less Regulation'
Michael Henderson, a 42-year-old database programmer and Democrat from Mooresville, North Carolina, said he is voting for Obama. ``It seemed like McCain was still going for a little less regulation,'' said Henderson. ``That's what got us into that mess.''
Likewise, Obama remained the clear favorite on who has the better ideas for strengthening the nation's economy, which people said is the most important issue in the campaign. He was also preferred on dealing with rising gas prices.
Obama saw an increase in the percentage of voters who view him positively after the debate, and a decline in those who view him unfavorably.
The Democrat also succeeded in closing the gap with McCain, 72, when it comes to who voters have trust to deal wisely with an international crisis. One negative for Obama was that slightly more voters said he made a blunder during the debate than those who said McCain had done so.
Knowledge, Experience
McCain was the leader on the issues of knowledge and experience. More than three-quarters of the voters expressed confidence in his ability to deal with an international crisis, higher than Obama.
Arizona Senator McCain also, by a 3-to-2 margin, was preferred by these debate watchers on the issues of achieving success in Iraq and protecting the country from terrorism.
McCain is ``going to finish the job in Iraq,'' said Jimmy Pound, a 53-year-old power-plant operator from Moyers, Oklahoma, and registered Democrat.
While the majority of respondents in the post-debate poll didn't see a difference in which candidate was more negative, those who did targeted McCain by a large margin. That may have contributed to the small drop in his personal ratings from those debate watchers. However, they also seemed to remember more negative specifics about Obama than about the Republican nominee.
Personal Qualities
On the personal qualities, the weekend survey suggested Obama retained or even increased his margin on questions such as who is more honest, who will substantially change the way things work in Washington and who cares more about ordinary people.
On the question of McCain's decision to suspend his campaign last week to address the financial crisis, by 46 percent to 38 percent, more voters in the post-debate poll said they thought he was playing politics rather than acting for the good of the country.
Only a little more than half of respondents said they watched the whole debate. In the poll after the debate, more people identified themselves as Democrats and independents than as Republicans.
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