McCain Seen as 'Too Negative' in Debate

clipped from www.americablog.com Angry John McCain showed up at the debate last night. It didn't sit well with undecided voters: McCain was seen as the more negative of the two—by 7 points before the debate and by 26 points after. The audience did not like it when he went after Obama for being "naïve" or used his oft-repeated "what Senator Obama doesn't understand" line. When the two clashed directly in the second half of the debate, with Obama repeatedly protesting McCain's characterization of his statements or positions, the voter dials went down. Voters appear to have judged McCain too negative in those encounters and Obama more favorably.

As I said last night, McCain didn't seem to be very controlled and, at times, seemed either on the brink of losing it or beyond it. All Obama had to do was be Obama -- that almost serene calm he has -- and McCain was sunk.

I related news, CNN's post-debate polling gives the match to Obama by a pretty wide margin -- 51% to 38%.