Obama debate bump

Obama Keeps Advantage Over McCain in Post-Debate Poll

Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The presidential debate changed the preferences of few voters, reinforcing previous perceptions about the candidates' strengths and continuing to give Democrat Barack Obama an advantage over Republican John McCain.

Voters who watched the Sept. 26 debate preferred Obama, 49 percent to 44 percent, according to a Bloomberg News/Los Angeles Times poll of 448 respondents over the weekend. Obama scored much higher among these voters on the economy, as he did in a national poll last week, and McCain reaffirmed the perception that he is better on national security.

One potentially important finding among these debate watchers is that while McCain retained his advantage on experience, voters said Obama seemed more presidential by a 46 percent to 33 percent margin. Among those uncertain about their vote -- those who are either undecided or declaring they may change preference -- Obama was more than 2-to-1 ahead of McCain on this question.

``The thing that helped Obama slightly is that he seemed more presidential,'' said Susan Pinkus, who conducts the poll. ``He passed the presidential test.'' By a small margin, more people said they thought Obama ``won'' the debate.

Both the debate and the poll were conducted in the middle of high-level negotiations over a controversial plan to have the federal government rescue financial firms. Illinois Senator Obama, 47, continued to do better than his opponent on the question of who would best handle this crisis next year, by 48 percent to 36 percent.

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Obama was definitely the leader in the debate, though McCain did not do badly - just a little erratic. Obama was definitely on top of his game though.