Zogby: Obama Won Debate by a Nose; Race Tight

Likely voters nationwide who watched Friday’s debate in Mississippi between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain gave Obama the win by the slightest of margins, a new Zogby Interactive survey shows.


The poll shows that 44% believed Obama won the debate, while 41% said McCain did. Another 16% said they watched the debate but were unsure who came out on top.


Women gave Obama the nod, while men said they felt McCain won the first face-off. But some partisans had doubts. Just 78% of Democrats felt Obama won the debate, and just 80% of Republicans felt McCain won. Independents, by a four-point margin, said Obama won the debate.

The survey, which went into the field almost immediately after the conclusion of the debate and came out Saturday late afternoon, also showed Obama with a statistically insignificant 47.1% to 45.9% lead overall in a head-to-head “horserace” question. Voters nationwide also said they felt, again by a narrow margin, that Obama has handled himself better than McCain in dealing with the current financial crisis.

The survey shows that McCain helped himself a little among his base Republican voters since the last Zogby Interactive survey taken just a few days ago. He now wins 92% support among Republicans, up three points from mid-week last week.