Politics

Romney wins CBS and CNN post-debate polls

Neil Munro White House Correspondent
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Republican nominee Mitt Romney trounced President Barack Obama in two instant post-debate polls conducted y CNN and CBS.

A quick CNN poll of apparently uncommitted registered voters who watched the debate gave former Massachusetts Gov. Romney a crushing victory over President Barack Obama in the debate.

Sixty-seven percent of the voters polled by CNN gave the victory to Romney, while only 25 percent said Obama won.

A CBS poll of 500 self-described uncommitted voters showed that 46 percent said Romney won, while only 22 percent said the president won. Thirty-two percent said it was a tie.

Other results in both polls favored Romney.

Fifty-six percent of CBS’ panel said they viewed Romney in a better light, while 32 percent said the debate did not change their opinions. Eleven percent said the debate made Romney look worse.

The CBS panel said they liked both candidates — which allowed Romney to close the potentially important likability gap.

“The percentage of those polled who said they felt the former Massachusetts governor cares about their needs and problems spiked from 30 percent pre-debate to 63 percent post-debate,” read the CBS report.

“President Obama also enjoyed a bump in that category, with 53 percent of voters saying they believed he cares about their issues before the debate, moving to 69 percent after the debate,” according to CBS.

Romney also won CNN’s poll.

When asked who would better handle the economy, 55 percent of the respondents said Romney won. Only 43 percent said Obama won.

Romney even edged Obama on likability, 46 percent to 45 percent.

Most importantly, 35 percent of the respondents said they were more likely to vote for Romney, while only 18 percent said they were more likely to vote for Obama.

“For any candidate to get above 50-something, it is just huge,” said CNN national correspondent John King. “You have a lot of president’s supporters saying he got spanked tonight.”

CNN’s left-leaning guests and correspondents agreed that Romney won.

Romney “came in with a chain-saw,” complained James Carville, a former adviser to President Bill Clinton.

“Tonight, [Romney] is presidential,” said Van Jones, a former Obama appointee.

Obama was listless and passive, perhaps because his aides refuse to contradict him, said senior CNN political analyst David Gergen, who has served White Houses from Richard Nixon to Clinton. Every president’s aides tend to be sycophantic, ensuring that “it is so unexpected to have someone came and challenge you sharply like this,” he said.

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