By 13%, Independents Want The Debate To Go On
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Debates, McCain, Polls
Yesterday, I shared a snap poll from SurveyUSA that showed public reaction to canceling the debates immediately after McCain announced he was suspending his campaign. At that time, Americans were overwhelmingly in favor of keeping the debate on Friday.
Today we have another poll from Marist University that finds Dems supporting it to go on and Repubs supporting a postponement. Yesterday both groups favored no postponement, but seeing Repubs fall in line with McCain certainly isn’t surprising.
That’s why I’m focusing on Independents, because 53% of them want to see it happen, while 40% favor postponement.
And understandably, so goes the independents, so goes the final poll results.
Marist finds that 53% of all respondents are in favor of going forward and 42% want a postponement.
Again, not nearly as wide a margin as yesterday, but if McCain is really seeking the swing vote he may want to reconsider his current “no debate” stance.
This entry was posted on Thursday, September 25th, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, Barack, Debates, McCain, Polls. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
September 25th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Well, I haven’t heard anyone say “cancel” as you do above. Given that what’s likely to happen (if anything) is a brief postponement, what’s the big deal?
I wonder if the folks polled even knew that this debate was supposed to be about foregin policy. I’ll hazard a guess that many of the polled folks who want the debate to go on are anxious to hear the candidates’ takes on the economy. How many of the folks polled were even aware that the scheduled debate is not supposed to address this?
Seems to me that the Obama folks are fanning the flames around an urgency to have these debates as scheduled, and I don’t really understand why they think this is so important, other than maybe because McCain wants a postponement. It feels like a purely contrarian “if you say black I’ll insist on white” position.
September 25th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Kranky Kritter, there are two big deals. First, a lot of states will have already started early voting by the time McCain wants to actually have the debate. Second, McCain is also using this as an excuse to postpone the VP debate, and given Palin’s performance in the few interviews she’s done, I think the American people have a right to see her in action before they actually start voting.
September 25th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
The 1992 Presidential Debates with Ross Perot were not dull. His warnings have now come true. Replace John McCain with Ron Paul. Add Ralph Nader and Cynthia McKinney. Barack Obama must earn his victory, not win by default.
September 25th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
[...] Independents Want The Debate To Go On September 25, 2008 at 2:34 pm [...]
September 25th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Which McCain stunt rates as the most crazy/ballsy?
1. Comparing Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.
2. Selecting Sarah Palin VP.
3. Threatening to not attend the debates.
4. Claiming Obama called Palin a pig.
Such a tough call. All of these really make him seem so trustworthy and full of integrity.
September 25th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
[...] let’s remember, both SurveyUSA’s and Marist’s polls showed Americans want the debate to [...]