React Labs: Educate

Summary Results for Second 2012 Presidential Debate:

The Town Hall

October 16, 2012

2,295 people reacted at least once51% were Democrats

31% were Republicans

18% independent/other

Before the debate:

56% planned to vote for Obama

30% planned to vote for Romney

10% were undecided

4% planned to vote for someone else

52% male and 48% female

63% white; 13% Hispanic; 10% Asian; 9% African American; 5% other

Obama/Romney Comparisons

As with the first presidential debate, Obama received mostly agree clicks, while Romney received a more even ratio of agree and disagree clicks.

Obama was heavily favored as the debate winner. When asked who won the debate, 70% of respondents said Obama, 22% said Romney, and 8% said they tied.

Thus, excluding respondents who thought the debate was a draw, 76% of respondents thought Obama won versus 24% for Romney.

Key Moments

Many candidate responses were polarizing. For instance, Romney’s response to the gun control question received his peak in both agree and disagree clicks.

Respondents appeared to approve of Crowley as a moderator. For instance, she received a surge of agree clicks when she fact-checked Romney.

Although participants tended to agree with Obama, they perceived his response to the question about the Libya embassy attack as the biggest dodge of the night.

10% of post-debate respondents changed their expected vote choice from their pre-debate preference

68% moved toward Obama• E.g., from Romney to

undecided or from undecided to Obama

The other 32% moved toward Romney• E.g., from Obama to

undecided or from undecided to Romney

Among the switchers:

Perceived debate winner (by state)

Grey = no responses