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COLUMNISTS
TODAY'S STORIES
15.10.2008
Stan Greenberg's Focus Group: "Decisive" for Obama

As I type this, Stan Greenberg is briefing reporters on his focus group of undecided voters in Colorado. He said the respondents felt Obama "won" and that the results were "more decisive than either of the last two." That's a reference to Greenberg's previous focus groups, which also came away preferring Obama.

The most striking result came on the favorability ratings. Although the focus group was officially undecided, it leaned towards McCain. Here were the favorability-unfavorability ratings for each candidate at the start:

McCain: 54 favorable / 34 unfavorable

Obama: 42 favorable / 42 unfavorable

Here's what the ratings looked like after the debate:

McCain: 50 favorable / 48 unfavorable 

Obama: 72 favorable / 22 unfavorable

Interestingly, Obama's most popular answer was about education. The focus group seemed particularly pleased about his riff on asking parents to take more responsibility for their children. According to Greenberg, this is likely part of the reason the focus group felt that, overall, Obama shares their values. 

Update: Time's Amy Sullivan has a full write-up on Greenberg's results. 

--Jonathan Cohn

Posted: Wednesday, October 15, 2008 11:05 PM with 6 comment(s)

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lonestarpedro said:

Game over. For realz.

October 15, 2008 11:50 PM

3mjesus said:

Toast.

October 15, 2008 11:56 PM

frilz1 said:

The overall CNN post debate poll last night was Obama 59%, McCain 31%. People can quibble with the exactitude of these numbers, but they are about right, and consistant with pre-debate opinion polls. And this is the only verdict that matters, which means the 2008 campaign is over and the only thing left to decide is just how big the Obama landslide will be.

October 16, 2008 5:56 AM

Political Animal said:

DEBATE POLLS.... Everyone who watched last night's debate came to their own conclusions about the candidates' performances, but there's that other question to consider: what did everyone else think? Reiterating a point from previous post-debate wrap-ups

October 16, 2008 6:45 AM

Political Animal said:

DEBATE POLLS.... Everyone who watched last night's debate came to their own conclusions about the candidates' performances, but there's that other question to consider: what did everyone else think? Reiterating a point from previous post-debate wrap-ups

October 16, 2008 9:04 AM

fougasseu said:

I thought the education comments came out of nowhere and were brilliant. Unexpected, spoke to everyone who now doesn't have a clue how to pay for college, and showed real empathy. Being a man with young daughters, you believe him.

The guy is like Borg at Wimbledon. Steady as a rock and then unleashes a stroke of genius. He's a bit scary. What focus.

October 16, 2008 9:57 AM