US and the World

CBS & Gallup polls: Kerry won hands down

CBS News | Uncommitted Voters Pick Kerry | October 14, 2004 04:28:02

Seen that ABC Poll that calls the debate a tie? Don't be silly. The election right now is too close to call and when you poll the general electorate they're going to say their man won - whichever their man is. Maybe!

Seems to me the critical people to ask are the ones who have not yet decided and who watched the debate - and among these voters, 39 per cent thought Kerry won, while only 25 per cent thought Bush won. (Another 36 per cent called it a draw.)

That's what CBS did and that, to anyone who can count, is a clear cut Kerry victory.

Now ABC had it 41/40 for Kerry - a "tie." But maybe my first answer is too simplistic, because CNN/ Gallup had Kerry the clear winner. This is what CNN is reporting this morning:

TEMPE, Arizona (CNN) -- Sen. John Kerry appeared to gain more momentum heading toward November 2, easily beating President Bush in the third and final debate, a poll taken late Wednesday night suggests.

A CNN/USA Today/Gallup snap poll taken immediately after the presidential debate found that respondents gave a significant edge to Kerry over Bush, 52 percent to 39 percent.

The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

The numbers were similar to the results of a poll taken the night of the first debate September 30 in Miami, Florida. That night Kerry was favored by a 53 percent to 37 percent margin.

And I dutifully went to the Fox News web site where they are doing one of those highly unscientific Web polls and even there Kerry was clearly ahead.