Hillary, Biden, Obama gained most tonight. Edwards biggest loser. ... says focus group.

[jefferson_dem]

Real Time Response: Who’s Gained from Tonight’s Debate?
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The New Hamphire respondents studied in tonight’s dial test focus group provided insight into the candidates’ performance and their assessment of their ability to lead the nation. Hillary Clinton, Joseph Biden and Barrack (sic) Obama appear to have gained the most in tonight’s debate. Focus group respondents viewed Clinton favorably prior to the debate and felt even more strongly about her afterward, increasing her ratings by twenty-one points. Interestingly, there was not a gender gap in the response. Both men and women evaluated Clinton similarly and both groups proportionately increased their favorable evaluations of her.

Another successful performance was given by Biden who gained thirteen points and moved in the rankings from 6th to first place among tonight’s focus group participants. Biden received the strongest gain among women.

Obama received a slight bump in favorability ratings and sustained his ranking. Significantly, Obama gained the most from Independent voters.

Debates can harm voters’ perceptions of candidates as well. Expectations prior to the debate were that John Edwards, a candidate who ranked third in the mid-May national opinion polls, would perform well. Respondents’ opinion of Edwards decreased during the course of the debate by seven points and fell in the rankings among these respondents from third to the bottom two candidates of the race.

Dr. Rita Kirk and Dr. Daniel Schill - Southern Methodist University

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