A CBS News poll finds that Joe Biden did better than Sarah Palin among undecideds but that both candidates helped their tickets.
Forty-six percent of the uncommitted voters surveyed say Democrat Joe Biden won the debate, compared to 21 percent for Republican Sarah Palin. Thirty-three percent said it was a tie.
Eighteen percent of previously uncommitted percent say they are now committed to the Obama-Biden ticket. Ten percent say they are now committed to McCain-Palin. Seventy-one percent are still uncommitted.
Both candidates improved their overall image tonight. Fifty-three percent of those surveyed say they now have a better impression of Biden. Five percent say they have a worse opinion of the Delaware senator, while 42 percent say they debate did not change their opinion. Fifty-five percent say they now have a better opinion of Palin. Fourteen percent say they have a worse opinion, while 30 percent say their opinion hasn’t changed.
After the debate, 66 percent see Palin as knowledgeable about important issues — up from 43 percent before the debate. But Biden still has the advantage on this — 98 percent saw him as knowledgeable after the debate. That figure was 79 percent before the debate.
Remember: This isn’t a general survey but rather a sampling of people identifying themselves as undecided. That a third think Palin is not “knowledgeable about important issues” is problematic given that it’s usually a given that VP candidates are well versed in facts about major public policy debates. Still, she’s convinced most people that she’s just fine.
Similarly, a CNN poll finds that Biden won but Palin exceeded expectations.
Fifty-one percent of those polled thought Biden did the best job in Thursday night’s debate, while 36 percent thought Palin did the best job. But respondents said the folksy Palin was more likable, scoring 54 percent to Biden’s 36 percent.
Both candidates exceeded expectations — 84 percent of the people polled said Palin did a better job than they expected, while 64 percent said Biden also exceeded expectations.
But on the question of the candidates’ qualifications to assume the presidency, 87 percent of the people polled said Biden is qualified while only 42 percent said Palin is qualified.
Now, unlike CBS, CNN sampled people who watched the debate but included people who already had their minds made up. Presumably, a good chunk of the 58 percent who think Palin unqualified are Democrats — and we don’t know how balanced their survey was. Still, more than twice as many people say Biden is qualified.
A MediaCurves poll also shows Biden winning handily on just about every issue among self-described Independents.
