By every measure--polls, focus groups, pundits--Barack Obama triumphed in the second presidential debate on Tuesday night. On the economy, the new energy economy, health care as a right, the need for national service, the Climate Crisis, the moral obligation to help stop genocide in Darfur, ending the Iraq war, Obama gave clear and persuasive answers. One indication of this was a focus group covered by Time's Amy Sullivan: "Even more dramatic was the shift in the voters’ personal reactions to the two candidates. Before the debate, McCain had a 48/46 favorability rating; that improved to 56/36 by the end. But that’s about where Obama started the evening—54/36. After an hour and a half, Obama’s favorability numbers were 80/14. As Joe Biden would say, let me repeat that: 80% of the undecided voters had favorable views of Obama and only 14% saw him negatively for a net rating of +66. Not even Bill Clinton got such a warm response in town hall formats."
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