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CNN:
Round 1 in debates goes to Obama, poll says — OXFORD, Mississippi (CNN) — 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.
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Swamp, The Live Feed, Washington Wire, The Daily Dish, Will Wilkinson, NDN Blog and Connecting.the.Dots
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Brian Montopoli / CBS News:
Poll Results Suggest More Uncommitted Voters Saw Obama As Debate Winner — UPDATED WITH NEAR-FINAL NUMBERS CBS News and Knowledge Networks conducted a nationally representative poll of approximately 500 uncommitted voters reacting to the debate in the minutes after it happened.
Discussion:
TPM Election Central, The New Republic, Balloon Juice, Achenblog, Balkinization, Booman Tribune, Marc Ambinder, Democratic Strategist, All Spin Zone, NewsBusters.org, NDN Blog, The Glittering Eye, Donklephant, The Mahablog, Hullabaloo, FiveThirtyEight.com, Jules Crittenden, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Martini Revolution, The Peking Duck, The Huffington Post, Taylor Marsh, The Daily Dish, Group News Blog, PR Newswire and Washington Post
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight.com:
Why Voters Thought Obama Won — TPM has the internals of the CNN poll of debate-watchers, which had Obama winning overall by a margin of 51-38. The poll suggests that Obama is opening up a gap on connectedness, while closing a gap on readiness. — Specifically, by a 62-32 margin …
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, Slate, Washington Monthly, Matthew Yglesias, Swampland, Democrats.com, The New Republic, Ross Douthat and MyDD
Time Edit / Swampland:
What Sayeth the Undecideds? — From TIME's Amy Sullivan: — Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg ran a dial-group with 45 undecided voters in St. Louis during the debate, polling them before and after to judge how the event changed their reactions to Obama and McCain.
Noah Pollak / Commentary:
CNN's Poll vs. CNN's Spin — CNN's poll of debate viewers blares a puzzling headline: “Round 1 in debate goes to Obama, poll says.” — But the poll itself actually doesn't say that. This is blatant editorializing on the part of CNN. The first problem is the numbers:
CNN:
Transcript of presidential debate — WASHINGTON (CNN ) — Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama debated on the campus of the University of Mississippi Friday night. The moderator for the debate was Jim Lehrer of the NewsHour on PBS. What follows is the full transcript of the debate:
Discussion:
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Aljean Harmetz / New York Times:
Paul Newman, a Magnetic Titan of Hollywood, Is Dead at 83 — Paul Newman, one of the last of the great 20th-century movie stars, died Friday at his home in Westport, Conn. He was 83. — The cause was cancer, said Jeff Sanderson of Chasen & Company, Mr. Newman's publicist.
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PR Newswire:
Newman's Own Foundation Celebrates the Life and Legacy of Paul Newman — Remembering the life and legacy of Paul Newman, Newman's Own Foundation has issued a statement. The statement, from Vice-Chairman Robert Forrester, follows: — “Paul Newman's craft was acting. His passion was racing.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Guardian, Campaign Silo, Maggie's Farm, culturekitchen and JammieWearingFool
CNN:
Paul Newman dies at 83 — (CNN) — Paul Newman, the legendary actor whose steely blue eyes, good-humored charm and advocacy of worthy causes made him one of the most renowned figures in American arts, has died of cancer at his home in Westport, Connecticut. He was 83.
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
SO ANGRY — McCain's unwillingness to make eye contact with Obama through the debate seems to be getting picked up by a lot of observers. Here's an interesting exchange on the subject between Chris Matthews and the Post's Eugene Robinson ... Here's one comment we got from TPM Reader EO ...
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Roger Simon / The Politico:
The Mac is back — John McCain was very lucky that he decided to show up for the first presidential debate in Oxford, Miss., Friday night. Because he gave one of his strongest debate performances ever. — While Barack Obama repeatedly tried to link McCain to the very unpopular George W. Bush …
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Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
“Horses**t”: Correction — I've removed the original post of a little time ago because after listening to the clip about two dozen times, what sounded like McCain saying “horses**t” actually comes through as having a hard “c” at the front of it. My husband insists that McCain said “Course not.”
Hilzoy / Washington Monthly:
“John Was Right” — Last night, the fact that Obama said that McCain was right on several occasions caused consternation among some liberals, and great rejoicing on the right. I didn't agree. It would have been one thing had Obama not also been willing to say, forcefully, that he thought McCain was wrong.
Discussion:
Sic Semper Tyrannis 2008
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William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
A Genuine and Immediate Crisis — What Congress has to do now. — I've received phone calls in the last hour from two economists I respect, one of them Larry Lindsey, the other in a position where he'd prefer not to be named. Both have government experience, neither is alarmist by nature, and they say this:
Discussion:
The Corner
Gallup:
Gallup Daily: Obama Holds 5-Point Lead — Momentum in his favor going into debate — PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama leads John McCain, 49% to 44%, when registered voters are asked who they would vote for if the election were held today, according to the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update.
Noam Scheiber / The New Republic:
Obama's Emotional Deficit — I'd guess the CW will be that McCain won on points, with nothing close to a knockout, and I'd echo that judgment. McCain had Obama on the defensive over earmark requests and his $800 billion in new spending, then later on the surge and those rogue-leader meetings.
Jonah Goldberg / The Corner:
The SNL Skit & Focus Groups — It's hard to guess what, exactly, the SNL skit will look like. I think the press is congealing around the (erroneous) idea that Obama won precisely because that's what the focus groups seem to be saying, or at least what the focus groups are saying allows …
Cuffy Meigs / Perfunction:
Video: Obama's Flip-Flop On Missile Defense — From the first Presidential Debate in Oxford, Mississippi last night, Barack Obama changes direction on missile defense quicker than an “unproven” defensive interceptor. — But while he flipped in the right direction, is this Change You Can Believe In?
Jeff G. / protein wisdom:
A Crisis Primer — David Harsanyi, writing for the Denver Post: … Harsanyi goes on to embed the “Burning down the House” video (on my suggestion: I have incredible pull with the mainstream press, provided I don't charge for my services), which I believe everyone should watch …
Discussion:
Post-Ed Notes