Obama buzz share plummets 17% post debate
by WonkoKevin
Barack Obama might have come out of Tuesday’s debate with a pundit-proclaimed minor victory, but the Wonkosphere as a whole didn’t seem to see it that way. Obama, who overtook Hillary Clinton for buzz share amongst liberal bloggers on Monday (first time in a long time), plunged 17 percentage points between Tuesday and Wednesday. John Edwards, Clinton, and Joe Biden came out with fairly significant buzz share increases. Dennis Kucinich lost a point, even with the UFO (and impeachment) remarks. Here’s a summary of who went up and down yesterday, post debate:
Edwards +7
Clinton +5
Biden +5
Dodd +1
Kucinich -1
Richardson -3
Obama -17
Watching the debate, I thought Clinton was playing shutout as a goaltender and then flubbed it with seconds to go. The “license driver” exchange then in turn caused MSM and pundits to recast the entire debate as one of Clinton fending off questions, turning a win into a loss. I would be surprised if this hurt her in upcoming IA or NH polls, but it certainly is a messy topic in the general election. OTOH, Edwards’ effectiveness on Tuesday will help him slow down some of the negative momentum he’s had over the last few weeks. Obama? He was thrown a softball down the middle of the plate with the first question on Tuesday, and he laid down a sacrifice bunt. Gotta go for the homer dude!
