Polls give Obama win over Romney after debate No. 2

The second presidential debate is over and post-debate polls show that President Barack Obama edged ahead of Republican candidate Mitt Romney, making up for a disappointing performance in the first debate.

In a poll conducted for CBS News immediately after the debate, 37 per cent of the uncommitted voters surveyed said Obama won and 30 per cent gave the victory to Romney. It was too close to call for 33 per cent of respondents, who called the debate a tie.

It’s a marked increase for the president compared to the first debate when, in a similar poll, just 22 per cent of uncommitted voters gave Obama the win and 46 per cent said Romeny came out on top.

In another poll conducted for CNN Obama also came out ahead, with 46 per cent of respondents who watched the debate giving the president the win. But Romney was close behind in that poll, with 39 per cent of respondents giving the victory to the Republican. Of those polled, 73 per cent also said that Obama did better than expected during the debate.

Fox News, however, pointed to a Gallup poll that was released in the hours before the debate, which gave Romney the lead with voters, with 50 per cent of respondents choosing the Republican and 46 per cent choosing Obama.