Romney Has a Good Night, But No Evidence of Changing the Game

Working in partnership with the Women’s Voices. Women Vote Action Fund, Democracy Corps seated a group of 45 swing voters in Denver to watch and react to the first Presidential debate. This group, which included 16 unmarried women, is part of a larger research effort to take a hard look at these critical voters, exploring their role and participation in the 2012 elections.

Overall, the dial testing and follow-up discussions showed Mitt Romney performing well, improving his personal appeal and a number of important attributes. Obama also impressed the group, but not to the same degree as Romney. …

In the end, though, this debate did not emerge as the game-changer the Romney campaign needed. While his ballot support grew in pre- and post-debate testing, so did Obama’s. Moreover, all of Romney’s gains came from Republican-leaning undecided voters. He did not move a single voter away from Obama. [cont.]

Democracy Corps