Scoring Round Three

[H2O Man]

Part One: The Polls

(1) "The disparity was even more marked among 500 uncommitted voters polled after watching the debate on CBS: Mr Obama won 53 per cent of the vote compared with 22 per cent who came out for Mr McCain. A total of 14 per cent of these unaligned voters said the debate had made up their mind to vote for Mr McCain, while 28 per cent said they would now be voting for Mr Obama and 58 per cent still weren't sure.

"While 54 per cent of CBS's undecided voters thought Mr Obama ‘shared their values’ before the debate, this had risen nine per cent by its end. Meanwhile Mr McCain enjoyed a smaller bump, from 53 per cent beforehand to 56 afterwards.

"A focus group of 23 uncommitted voters in Arlington, Virginia, convened for the Fox News network by the pollster Frank Luntz, who is often seen on BBC Newsnight, also awarded the tie to Mr Obama. While a clear majority said Mr Obama had performed best, when asked who thought Mr McCain had won the tie, none raised their hand.

"Mr Luntz said: ‘None had made a decision to support Senator Obama before the debate, but more than half supported him after the debate. It was a good night for Barack Obama.’ "

More at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/presidentialdebates/3207511/US-presidential-debate-Polls-suggest-Barack-Obama-beat-John-McCain.html

(2) "SNAP polls indicate Republican John McCain suffered his third strike in the final of three presidential debates with Democrat rival Barack Obama today, the Arizona senator viewed as having lost a debate he was hoping might help resurrect his flagging presidential campaign. …

But the attacks appear to have fallen flat. Senator McCain said yesterday he was going to whip Senator Obama's "you know what" in the debate but voters polled didn't see it that way, giving Senator Obama a clean sweep of the three debates, which have gone a long way to convincing Americans the 47-year-old Illinois senator is ready to occupy the White House. ….

CNN also released snap polls following the debate and it indicated 58 per cent of voters saw the Democrat the winner over 31 per cent for Senator McCain.

It also found that Senator Obama's favourability ratings increased to 66 per cent from 63 while Senator McCain's dropped to 33 from 35. Some 66 per cent said Senator Obama presented ideas more clearly over just 25 for Senator McCain. On likeability, Senator Obama won easily at 70 to 22.

Also, independent voters, critical to the election result, broke 57 to 31 to Senator Obama in the CNN poll.

More at:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24506160-5013948,00.html

Part Two: Water Analysis

Minister Malcolm X used to teach a simple lesson: if you place two glasses of water before a thirsty person – one sparkling clean, the other filthy – you don’t have to tell that person which glass they should drink from. You can trust them to select the clean, sparkling one.

Going into last night’s debate, Barack Obama had a lead in significant areas. His lead includes a larger base of solid, base supporters than that of John McCain. More, the first two debates had given Obama a lead among the "undecided" voters. Thus, the pressure was on John McCain to not only win over the majority of the remaining "undecided" voters, but to perform at a level that would convince already decided Obama supporters to change their minds.

McCain failed in both areas. The polls show that the majority of viewers believe that Barack Obama won the debate. And this includes a large margin of the "undecided" viewers.

This morning, there are attempts by some of the journalists employed by the corporate media to convince the public that John McCain actually "won" the debate. They do not appreciate the wisdom of Malcolm’s message, that you need not tell the public which glass to drink from. And they do not trust the public to make the choice for themselves.

Yet trust is a two-way street. The public recognizes that the cluster of corporations that owns the media has often been one and the same cluster that has polluted their water supply. In 2008, the public thirsts for something different than the filthy glass of water that the republican machine continues to advertise as "new! and improved!" in the corporate media.

The public knows that although Bill Ayers is not associated with Barack Obama’s campain, he is central to John McCain’s. The public knows that Barack Obama is not running against George W. Bush; rather, Obama is running against John McCain’s effort to continue those Bush failed policies.

The polls show that Malcolm X was right. The public is picking that clean, sparkling glass of water.

[irish.lambchop]

1. Re Ayers -

"The fact that this has become such an important part of your campaign, Senator McCain, says more about your campaign then it says about me." (I think I have that quote correct.) That sums up McCain's campaign on every level. I do believe the masses have had enough. I am now most curious as to what the McCain camp's next moves will be in light of the polls and focus groups - though I still do not understand how there is anyone 'undecided' at this late date.

[bulldogge]

5. That

was among my favorite moments of the night. The son of cain had a few moments last night in which he looked like he had spit in the wind. H2O likes to use the boxing analogy, unfortunately for the son of Cain there is no 3 knockdown rule in effect. If it was not such a serious situation McCain would almost be comical, he was swinging for the fence in every at bat and getting nothing but air....the Daily Show has all the material they need now.

[Window]

2. As usual, well done H20 Man. K/R.

:kick:

[Me.]

3. Mourning Joe Has Been A Disgrace

He simply can't accept that Obama took the night and consequently the election. Where there is a big disparity in their thinking is that they all chumped for *, and that is the proof of how good their judgment is. These are the last people who should judge anything, not even a hog calling contest, with or without lipstick. Their judgment is so flawed it renders their opinion useless.

[Me.]

4. Things Are Moving Fast This Morning