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CNN Poll Of Polls: Debate Didn't Change A Thing

So did the first presidential debate actually change anything? Not so, according to CNN -- their poll of polls now shows Barack Obama ahead by 48%-43%, exactly where it was before the debate.

The rub here is that this non-event in the polls effectively helps Obama, as McCain lost a big opportunity to take Obama down a notch in the eyes of the public. This is especially more damaging for McCain in that the national-security debate was supposed to favor him. With the economic crisis accelerating, the next debates could be very good territory for the Dems.

From the pollster's analysis: "The pressure is increasing on McCain to find some way to change the fundamental dynamics of this race. He can't afford to walk away with a tie in the remaining debates."


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"From the pollster's analysis: "The pressure is increasing on McCain to find some way to change the fundamental dynamics of this race." Sounds to me like the fundamentals of the race are sound.

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If McCain feels the pressure to shake up the race at the next debate, this guarantees that he will be even more aggressive and nasty and dismissive which will insure that he continues to slide. Goody!

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So be wary of the trapped animal, I guess.

If the race is "unchanged", per CNN, why are the electoral vote estimates so different?

Good point. Why do we even care where the national tracking polls stand? They do not measure anything useful. CNN's "poll of polls" is tracking a metric (the popular vote) which does not really matter in the outcome of the election.

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Not only is it a metric that's unrelated to the actual results, but it's a stupid compilation of polls.

Meta-analysis for poll results, without a consideration of the quality of the individual polls involved. Never understood the appeal of that.

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Yeah.


lol

Actually, the first debate changed a lot. Obama was seen as strong leader, presidential, the man with the ideas and ready to be the C-in-C.

McCain, while still seen as strong in FP, was also percieved as angry, petulant and devoid of any solutions.

IMO the first debate changed the dymanics dramatically and some of it is irreversible.

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I think so too and

I agree about the tracking polls during the debate.

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Whatever CNN shows, the tracking polls have shown a big move towards Obama in the past week as have many state polls. When the Republican is 5-10 down in PA and fighting to keep it even in NC, Virginia and INdiana, you know he's in trouble.

Also this poll doesn't gauge how strongly folks support one candidate or the other. It could have strengthened or weakened support without showing in the numbers.

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Nice spin, Eric...

... this non-event in the polls effectively helps Obama...

Trouble is that in the midst of this economic whirlwind, it's hard to separate out the effects of the debate from the rest of the hurricane.

Lemme rummage around in my bag o' tricks...  Oh yeah, here it is...

THIS IS...

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EXCELLENT

NEWS...

NEWS

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NEWS FOR...

MCCAIN!!!!

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Alright. I'm not a fan of banning folks from internet boards ( I'm a free speech kinda guy) but YOU, Sir, need to get laid and the TPM folks ought to drop you like a hot potatoe.

I reported him to the powers that be, and received an acknowledgement.

The moderators should delete his 'comments' above....

The only polls that have come out post debate have been the tracking polls, right? I don't believe they are comparing apples to apples. But it's CNN, so what are you going to do.

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As it has been said on other treads today, we Democrats need to be cautious and not lower the expectations of the republican candidates in these debates. As with the economic markets right now, the ups and downs are not based on reality but rather on expectations.

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Ok, darlin - just exactly how do we do that - avoid lowering expectations?

I actually think CNN is missing the boat. The debate helped Obama consolidate his move up, and helped confirm what a lot of people were thinking about McCain. It was part of a stretch of events, rather than a stand alone ite,.

John

CNN is a joke and has been for a long time. They always try and push the horse race and salivate over Fox's viewship numbers. Wolf Blitzer should be a commentator for Table Tennis.

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Eric:

I hate to point this out, but the CNN 'Poll of Polls' had McCain within 3 points just 9 days ago.......

And I note that the 'Poll of Polls' has been removed form the CNN Election Central site. Gee - I wonder why?

Analysis is one thing - but spin is an ugly thing.

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Huh. Took me multiple clicks to even get to the page that has the 9/29 results, read the fine print, and thought, WTF?

CNN's "poll of polls" consists of five surveys: George Washington University Battleground Poll (Sept. 22-25, 28), Marist (Sept. 22-23), Fox News/Opinion Dynamics (Sept. 22-23), Gallup (Sept. 26-28) and Diageo/Hotline (Sept. 26-28). The poll of polls showed 10% unsure; it does not have a sampling error. More polls

They mixed three polls from before the debate with two from after the debate and conclude the debate had no effect?

This isn't spin: this is sheer hackery.

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Hackery. Them's lies we can believe in!

Look for McCain to suspend his campaign, to assist Gov. Palin, who will be spirited back to Alaska Wednesday night to push back the Russian aggression, after navy seals are spotted canoeing across the Behring straight, wearing Dr. Zhivago hats.

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LOL!


love that picture that Olbermann uses of Palin where she looks cross-eyed. I just love that.


WRONG - The main 4 polls are +7 as of today leaving out that outlier BAttleground

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/PoliticalbaseBlog/~3/407450666/&blogId=4444

Of course the debate didn't change a thing. It was terrible! A huge snore.

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Oddly enough, I'm almost never bored when Obama speaks.

But I don't think it showed Obama in his best light. For that, however, I blame Jim Lehrer.

I don't give any credence to what CNN claims about the debate not having changed anything, because they are dead wrong. The post debate polls showed that a lot more people now felt that Obama was qualified to do the job, than before the debate.

The debate also caused the polls in many of the battleground states to start trending toward Obama.

This election is not about national popularity polls, which do not count on election day. It is a state by state battle, and the debate performance enhanced Senator Obama's prospects in many of the key states.

CNN is weighting apples in an orange market.

Forget the self serving CNN site, got to
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com.

This is all about electoral votes....not the daily beauty contest

Eric writes-"This is especially more damaging for McCain in that the national-security debate was supposed to favor him."

Correct me if I am wrong but did they not spend a good part of the debate on the Economy? Should not Oilbama, who voted for the Bush Cheney Energy Bill, be winning in a landslide now that the economy is tanking like a rock?

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I agree. Since less than 50% of the debate was spent on the area where Obama is strongest, he should be up by at least a thousandy percent right now. What's wrong with him?

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he should be up by at least a thousandy percent right now. What's wrong with him?

Too low! He should be up eleventy hundred percent.

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FoeFoo thinks he should be up by twelvehundreddy percent.

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You know I was tempted to go to twelvish hundreddy, but then I realized that we could do this forever.


LOLOL!!!!

Dumb Bill,

You are never right, so why should we have to keep on correcting you. Now just STFU you habitually wrong tool of ignorance.

Well if the debate changed nothing according to the poll.

And, there is a 2% marin of error.

They are still only 1% point apart.

In an election where the Dems are supposed to have a huge, huge advantage.

Wonder why?

Well if the debate changed nothing according to the poll.

And, there is a 2% margin of error.

They are still only 1% point apart.

In an election where the Dems are supposed to have a huge, huge advantage.

Wonder why?

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fogu:

Do math much?

If there is a 2% MOE, then Obama is ahead by 9 points - not 5. (I can be optimistic too!)

Hang in there, though.

their poll of polls now shows Barack Obama ahead by 48%-43%

48-43=5

Aww wait a minute, you wuz jus funnin wid me.

Stupid people say stupid things.

2% margin of error means 50-46 vs 45-41.

He can be winning by as little as 46-45 or as much as 50-41.

We are talking strictly about sampling variation here and and not the accuracy of a particular poll.

Well, nothing really changed POLL-wise. But the issue is this: it's crunch time. Every day McCain doesn't make inroads on Obama's lead is a day wasted for him, and solidifies Obama's position. Anyone who frequents FiveThirtyEight.com knows that one of the reasons Obama's win percentage is so high right now is that the election is only five weeks (a little less) away. What this means is that every day that Obama's lead expands, or even stays consistent, equals a statistical drop in McCain's probability of winning the election.

Of course, I wouldn't expect CNN to go so in-depth in their analysis.

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That's an excellent comment. That's the biggest factor now - every day brings the election much closer and McLame's chances much further.

Thanks for that -

Conversely, every day Obama doesn't pull away to an insurmountable lead means he is still easily beatable.

What precisely would an "insurmountable lead" be by your definition? Is Obama beatable? Sure. But statistically, it's becoming near impossible for McCain to make any real inroads in Obama's lead.

Let's put it this way: it took McCain approximately 60 days over the summer with an onslaught of negative advertisements in order to erode Obama's lead to 1-point before the Democratic Convention. We currently have 35 days until the election. Given the current economic climate, and the fact that, as I've stated, Obama's lead continues to expand or stay consistent, what do you think the probability is that McCain will be able to diminish Obama's lead as he did over the summer?

It's only 1%. You feel comfortable with that "lead"?

Face it, it is still a dead heat, tied. And after all this time, all the attacks, and the supposed Dem advantage.

It is still tied which means either one can win at this point.

What the hell are you talking about? Haha! You're living in a fantasy land. Obama only has a 1% lead? Sure. And McCain is an honest and respectable politician. But you do know that 83% of all statistics are made up, right? Back up your source, buddy.

Anyway... By every single available metric, Obama is beating McCain by pretty large margins. On the electoral vote count, on the popular vote count, based on polling and surveys; on the statistical probability that Obama will win, he's beating McCain by huge margins, as we can see with things like Intrade and the Iowa Electronic Markets. And recently, Intrade has experienced some tampering ( http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/09/intrade-betting-is-suspcious.html ), so it wouldn't surprise me if Obama's lead there was even higher.

RCP gives Obama a national lead of 5.1 over McCain (hardly 1%). FiveThirtyEight gives Obama an 82.8% chance of winning the election. As I said, Intrade is giving Obama a 61% chance of winning. Pollster.com gives Obama an average of 48.8%, a lead of 5.2% (hardly 1%). Huh.

Bring some evidence next time, ok? You make this way too easy.

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Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Nam liber tempor cum soluta nobis eleifend option congue nihil imperdiet doming id quod mazim placerat facer possim assum.
Posted by fogu2
September 30, 2008 6:25 PM

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But natch the MSM wants a close horse race. They'll manufacture one - if necessary.

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Yes, and that's ok, too.

Apathy has no chance to sneak in. Although I must say, apathy and Barack Obama do not compute at all. Not at all.

Oh, and in case anyone was wondering about that Battleground poll... Read the following:

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/09/whats-wrong-with-battleground-poll.html

To quote Nate Silver,

bout 19 percent of voters were aged 65 and older in 2004, as compared to the 31 percent in the Battleground sample. On the other hand, 43 percent of voters were aged 18-44, as opposed to Battleground's 29 percent. These differences are much, much too large to be attributable to chance alone. (And all of this is assuming that turnout in 2008 will match that in 2004, even though youth turnout increased markedly in the primaries and is at least somewhat probable to do so in the general election.

Battleground should, based on this, be completely discounted. I understand that different polls use different methodology. But this is simply ridiculous, and has nothing to do with a methodological choice to attempt to render more accurate results. It's simply bollocks.

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Thanks for explaining just exactly why I hate polls, ChronoSpark.

I can't tell those that are fundamentally dishonest from those that aren't without going into it in depth like you have, and since it's all numbers I'm not likely to.

Most law students are looking for a major that doesn't require math.

No math in law school. Just a gazillion words -

Given the fact that I'm a complete idiot for math, it surprises me that I take such an interest in polls. Of course, polls deal so much with statistics and probability, and I love that stuff, soo...

As for ARG, which has consistently put McCain ahead in key swing states,

a) They have a Republican lean, and
b) Even though McCain is shown ahead, the trending is the same, with Obama slowly gaining ground on McCain.

Oh Fogu! You make me titter. If Obama wins this election by 7 percentage points, then it's a landslide. And frankly the reliable polls are showing him in the 6,7,8 point range every day.


Start repeating it now... PRESIDENT BARACK OABAM. Over and over and over until November. I would hate for your head to explode when it happens.

And trust me! It's going to happen.

Obama/Biden '08, '12

just read this on a uk paper about the election talking with Obama camp

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama/3089433/Barack-Obamas-top-team-believes-he-can-win-White-House-by-a-landslide.html

says it all for me the youth vote is being big time underestimated and this could be a land slide

Of course he can walk away without winning the debates, he's a gambler and has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. He'll probably suspend his campaign again or maybe he'll ask Sarah Palin to drop out to save herself from getting the hatchet.

The guy's going to suprise you: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/opinions/cartoonsandvideos/toles_main.html?name=Toles&date=09302008&type=c?hpid=opinionsbox1

I found this chart on 538.com very helpful. It ranks the quality of the various polls.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/search/label/pollster%20ratings

Survey USA appears to be the best of those we see a lot, followed by Rasmussen, Research 2000, Mason Dixon and Qunnipiac, Insider Advantage.

This guys website is fantastic for cutting through the crap

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Really? Looking at Pollster the trend has been up.

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