ONE MORE REASON to support Obama-Biden
Barack Obama and Joe Biden won all three debates! During the past month, the American people have had a chance to see and hear how Barack Obama and Joe Biden would bring the change we need to Washington. On issues from repairing our economy to providing access to healthcare to ending the war in Iraq and restoring our good name around the world, the Obama-Biden ticket offered real specific plans for how they would break from the past and open a new day in American politics.
Obama-Biden Campaign Manager David Plouffe
“We came into the debate with two thirds of the American people thinking that John McCain is running a negative campaign, and Senator McCain spent 90 minutes trying to convince the other third. Once again, Barack Obama won a clear victory because he made the case for change for the middle class, while John McCain just had angry and negative attacks. Barack Obama showed the steady leadership that the American people need, and offered specific plans on the issues that matter to the middle class – creating jobs, cutting health care costs, building a new energy policy, and getting our economy moving. Senator McCain said that George Bush isn’t on the ballot, but he couldn’t name a single way that his economic policies will be any different. This was John McCain’s last chance for a game-changer, and he didn’t get it,” said Obama-Biden campaign manager David Plouffe.
The Numbers
CNN POLL: Obama Wins Debate 58-31
CBS Poll: Obama Wins Debate 53-22
Halperin's Grades: JSM A-, BO B+
Focus Group of undecided independent voters conducted by Frank Luntz for Fox News
Luntz: …none had made a decision to support Sen. Obama before the debate, but more than half supported after the debate. It was a good night for Barack Obama.
TNR: Stan Greenberg's Focus Group: "Decisive" for Obama
Stan Greenberg conducted a focus group with undecided voters in Colorado during the final debate. 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.
The Reviews
Political Wire (Taegan Goddard): Sen. Barack Obama ultimately won the debate by repeatedly bringing it back to the issues. …. It was refreshing that Obama understands the important issues facing the country. He did a much better job than McCain simply explaining his own policy positions. LINK
TIME (Karen Tumulty): Obama seemed cool and collected, while McCain’s grimaces were painful to watch. LINK
Washington Post (E.J. Dionne)-McCain Deepens His Own Hole: The poll specifically asked voters if their opinion of McCain had changed for the better or for the worse in "the past couple of weeks." Only 7 percent said their view had changed in a positive direction; 21 percent said it had moved in a negative direction. Nearly a quarter of those who said their view of McCain had worsened cited his attacks on Obama as the reason for their change of heart; a fifth mentioned his selection of Palin. By contrast, 17 percent of voters said their view of Obama had improved; only 7 percent said it had worsened. LINK
ABC News: Sen. Obama also gets specific right away -- looking right to the camera with his bailout package for the middle class. And if you're looking for the first candidate to draw a distinction tonight, it's Obama, not McCain. LINK
Washington Post (Chris Cillizza): Obama is ON message. A question about campaign finance and nasty campaigning becomes an economic answer. LINK
CNN (Bill Schneider): Obama's answers during this first line of questioning appear crisp and clear, while McCain's sound disconnected and rambling. LINK
ABC News: …McCain is still saying he'd balance the budget within four years? This is silliness, and I think McCain knows it. I look forward to his campaign explaining how, exactly, he'll do this while extending the Bush tax cuts and funding bailouts. LINK
Washington Post Fact Check (Michael Dobbs): Joe the Plumber - John McCain raised the story of "Joe the Plumber" who ran into Barack Obama at a political rally in Toledo, Ohio, earlier this week. He depicted the plumber as an average American who will end up paying more taxes under the Obama plan. In fact, the plumber told Obama that he had plans to buy a company that would make more than $250,000 a year. Obama has conceded that his proposal to phase out the Bush tax cuts for high-income groups will lead to higher taxes for people making more than $250,000 a year. Obama told the plumber that he would face an increase in his marginal tax rate from 36 to 39 per cent, but Americans earning less than $250,000 a year would stand to gain under his proposal. LINK
NBC News (Mark Murray): McCain was wrong, however, when he said that 100% of his ads weren't negative. According to a recent study by the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project, 100% of McCain's ads have been negative. LINK
Washington Post Fact Check (Michael Dobbs): McCain exaggerated the closeness of the relationship between Obama and former Weather Underground founder Bill Ayers in claiming that his rival had "launched his political career" in Ayers' living room. It is true that Obama attended a coffee meeting at Ayers' home after he announced his intention to run for the state senate in September 2005. But according to Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times, who has tracked Obama's political career closely, the Ayers' event was only one of a series of coffees in the Hyde Park community where he lived. The kickoff for Obama's Senate run came at a meeting in the Hyde Park Ramada Inn on Sept. 19, 1995. LINK
TIME: McCain is flat-out lying about Obama's health care plan. It is not government-run health care, and looks nothing like the Canadian system. LINK
Washington Post Fact Check (Alec MacGillis): McCain said that ACORN, the large anti-poverty and affordable housing organization, is perpetrating one of the greatest voter frauds in the history of the country. This is greatly overstating the allegations that have been brought against the group in recent weeks. LINK
Just one more reason to vote for Barack Obama.
Early Vote begins TODAY in North Carolina. Also, be sure to VOTE THIS WEEK if you live in Georgia, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Washington or Wisconsin. Early Vote has already begun in these states, so you can bank your vote NOW. And be sure to take someone with you!
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