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Obama Sweeps Final Debate: Polls

Dem makes it 3 for 3 with focus on economy, health care

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 16, 2008 1:29 AM CDT

(Newser) – Barack Obama made it a clean sweep by winning the final debate last night, according to polls taken immediately afterward. CBS found 53% of undecided voters believed Obama was the clear winner, with 22% saying John McCain came out on top, and 22% calling it a draw. Viewers' favorable opinion of Obama rose from 63% to 66% in a CNN poll.

Obama stayed on top on the issues, while 80% of all viewers surveyed thought McCain spent more time on the attack, the CNN poll found. On the economy, 59% of viewers thought Obama would do a better job, compared with 35% for McCain. On health care, 62% thought Obama would do a better job, as opposed to 31% for McCain. Obama was thought the stronger leader by a 23-point margin in the CNN poll, and the more likeable of the two by 48 points.

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Barack Obama shakes hands with John McCain at the finish of their debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., yesterday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Barack Obama and John McCain shake hands after their at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., yesterday. (AP Photo/Gary Hershorn, Pool)

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., talk during the presidential debate Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008, at Hofstra University... (AP Photo/Gary Hershorn, Pool)

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The perception that McCain attacked Obama gave red meat to GOP partisans, but it probably didn't help McCain with independents. - CNN polling director Keating Holland

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Obama Sweeps Final Debate: Polls