Comments on: Media Hyped Poll Showing Obama Debate Win Had Screwy Sample

By: DNC + RNC = ROT

DNC + RNC = ROT — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 21:45:58 +0000

Spoil what? Waste what? Steal what?

Barack Obama we do not doubt your intelligence. To be an effective leader one must also display honesty, compassion, & guts. Stand with Ralph Nader, Ron Paul, & Cynthia McKinney. NOT John McCain. Your choice – your move.

By: abel

abel — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 17:12:31 +0000

Spin, spin, spin. Stop the aclu can’t stand the idea that McSame looked like a fool and Americans liked Obama’s response better. Here is a big Boo Hoo to you Stop The Aclu

By: Ray

Ray — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 04:30:30 +0000

That sample size reflects current party registration demographics and similar breakdowns are used by major polling companies. In an unrelated CBS News poll of people not committed to a candidate, 39 per cent said Obama won the debate, 24 per cent said McCain and 37 per cent called it a tie.

By: irv

irv — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 00:10:39 +0000

I didn’t watch the debate myself, since I dislike both candidates. During the debate I saw at least a half dozen tweets from a friend who is a strong Obama supporter.

My completely unscientific conclusion is that Republicans watched out of curiosity or boredom or a sense of duty, while Democrats watched out of a high school sense of team spirit, or adoration for their savior.

In that light, these poll results make perfect sense.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 23:52:47 +0000

Of course there will be more Democrats in the polls, there are more Democrats in the country. Democrats who will show up on election day, probably even more so this year.

By: joe

joe — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 22:35:49 +0000

It’s a fair sample when you consider likely voters. Likely voter polls put Democrats as more likely to vote than Republicans. That’s why most tracking polls sample more Democrats than Republicans.

By: CNN Credibility Factor « Count Us Out

CNN Credibility Factor « Count Us Out — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 19:22:28 +0000

[...] Everybody is talking about this poll from CNN declaring victory for Obama’s debate performance last night with an article titled “Round 1 in debates goes to Obama, poll says.” [...]

By: Jeff Molby

Jeff Molby — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 18:26:42 +0000

Did they edit the article since Noah’s post? It currently begins with:

A national poll of people who watched the first presidential debate suggests that Barack Obama came out on top, but there was overwhelming agreement that both Obama and John McCain would be able to handle the job of president if elected.
Most debate watchers agreed both McCain and Obama would be able to handle the job of president if elected.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey is not a measurement of the views of all Americans, since only people who watched the debate were questioned and the audience included more Democrats than Republicans.

That seems to be a very fair characterization of the poll results. As for the headline being exaggerated… you know as well as anyone else that that sort of thing is done constantly to attract clicks.

After all, what’s so “screwy” about their sample? Did you honestly expect them to poll people that hadn’t watched the debate? Did you honestly expect that the viewing audience would be split exactly 50/50?