I just noticed that President Obama's Gallup approval rating is now at 54-42 for October 1-3. I presume that this includes one evening of polling during the debate last night. This is the highest his approval rating has been in an entire year.
He's gone from +1 to +12 between Sept. 28-30 and Oct. 1-3. That's a big jump. A lot of his improvement in approval numbers over the last month appear to be fueled by women and younger people (18-29).
His numbers could tank in the next few days from the bad debate press. But are we sure that the general public thinks he sucks based on last night? Personally, I thought Romney was an overbearing, aggressive asshole. It made me like him even less. I suspect that a lot of women especially had the same reaction. These impressions of Romney may be feeding into greater approval of President Obama.