Confusing LA Times Poll Has Good News

[DemocratSinceBirth]

www.latimes.com

[DaveinMD]

1. what does it say

not registered.

[spooky3]

3. I'm allowed 4 paragraphs so here are the ones I chose...

John F. Kerry improved his image with voters who watched his debate with President Bush last week but didn't significantly shift their choice in the presidential race, a Los Angeles Times Poll of debate viewers has found.

More than three times as many of the people who watched Thursday's debate chose Kerry rather than Bush as the winner, the poll found. The Democratic nominee also made modest but consistent gains with viewers questions relating to national security and strength of leadership. And the percentage of debate viewers with a favorable perception of Kerry increased from 52 percent before to 57 percent after.

Kerry's most dramatic advance in the survey came in convincing more voters that he has a thorough agenda for the next four years. Asked which candidate had the more detailed plan for the policies he would pursue if elected, those who watched the debate gave Bush a nine-percentage point edge before the encounter; afterward, they preferred Kerry by four percentage points.

The poll, conducted Thursday night and Friday, surveyed 1,368 registered voters who participated in a Times survey last week and agreed to be contacted after the Sept. 30 debate. Among the group, 725 voters said they had, in fact, watched the debate; it is their attitudes the poll reports. The poll, supervised by polling director Susan Pinkus, has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points.

[citoyen]

8. Kerry will actually do even better with people who didn't watch the debate

Republicans are so rabid they ALL watched, so any poll of only folks who watched is skewed. (Fox pulled how many millions? 6? 9? It was giant.)

Those who didn't watch include a lot of indifferent maybe-voters and all they know is hearing on the news that Kerry kicked ass.

[newyawker99]

12. Hi citoyen!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Demi_Babe]

2. text

WASHINGTON -- John F. Kerry improved his image with voters who watched his debate with President Bush last week but didn't significantly shift their choice in the presidential race, a Los Angeles Times Poll of debate viewers has found.

While the debate generally did not diminish impressions of Bush on most questions, it did restore some of the luster Kerry had lost amid relentless Republican pounding since his party's convention in July, the poll found.

The key political question will be whether those gains in Kerry's image will help him peel away voters from Bush in the days ahead.

More than three times as many of the people who watched Thursday's debate chose Kerry rather than Bush as the winner, the poll found. The Democratic nominee also made modest but consistent gains with viewers questions relating to national security and strength of leadership. And the percentage of debate viewers with a favorable perception of Kerry increased from 52 percent before to 57 percent after.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

[Moderator]

13. Demi_Babe

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
copyrighted news source.


Thank you.

DU Moderator

[Robert Oak]

4. is this BS or what? Where is the actual "I will vote for * or Kerry"?

[AlCzervik]

5. screw that, look at this

Kerry, though, made bigger gains among viewers. On the most basic measure, the percentage of viewers with a favorable impression of him increased from 52 percent before the debate to 57 percent after; the percentage with an unfavorable impression dropped from 46 percent to 41 percent.


His favorable is higher than Bush by at least 6% and his presidential look is also higher than Bush.

[mumon]

6. this is gonna attract more voters to the next debates...

good.

[DrBB]

7. Perception has changed; minds will follow

The "confusing" part here is the result on actual voting preference. I'm no expert, but I'd be very surprised if that isn't premature. Perception has changed; it takes a while for people to say they've changed or made up their minds. Cognitive dissonance. Gotta process for a while, come up with reasons why, in fact, you knew you really were gonna vote that way all along.

[lancdem]

9. And Kerry was ahead 48-47 in this poll before the debate

and now it's 49-47, so that's two post-debate polls showing Kerry ahead by 2-3 points.

[jefferson_dem]

11. Yes, but these LA Times numbers reflect preferences of debate watchers

only, not the general public (as in the Newsweek poll). That is, if i'm reading things correctly.

[jefferson_dem]

10. Here's the rub...

"Perhaps most striking was the verdict on which candidate had displayed the strongest personality and character. Before the debate, by more than 2-to-1, the viewers had expected Bush to make the best impression. After, they preferred Kerry to Bush by 40 percent to 33 percent."

Great news, people! These initial impressions should / will jell into firm support over time.