Utahns rate debate as dead even

No clear-cut winner emerged in the eyes of Utah voters who watched Friday night's presidential debate, though numbers indicate that Democratic candidate Barack Obama gained ground in Utah on his Republican opponent, John McCain.

The KSL/Deseret News poll conducted by Dan Jones & Associates Saturday had a margin of error of 5.8 percent for the entire sample and 7 percent for debate watchers. Of the 295 respondents to the poll, 205 watched the debate.

Among those who watched, 32 percent felt that McCain probably or definitely won the debate and 31 percent that Obama probably or definitely won. Almost as many, 24 percent, did not think either candidate was the winner.

That same group evaluated themselves as very engaged with the upcoming election, with 82 percent rating their interest as high.

If that election were held today, 54 percent of the entire sample would vote for McCain and 32 percent would support Obama.

Pollster Dan Jones said Saturday that one of the more interesting numbers to come out of this sample was an indication that Obama's debate performance had a greater effect on voters than McCain's. On the question of who would you vote for if the election were held today, only 21 percent of non-debate watchers chose Obama, but 37 percent of those who did watch picked the Democrat.

"The debate seems to have really helped Obama close the gap," Jones said.

McCain's numbers in those categories moved the other direction. While 60 percent of non-watchers would vote for the Republican, those who tuned-in sided with him at a 52 percent rate.

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E-mail: araymond@desnews.com