WMUR's coverage of the NH debate also featured an instant response feature that monitored 30 undecided NH Democrats and Independents during tonight's debate to see how they responded to the points each candidate made. According to WMUR, the highest response of the entire debate was elicited by this segment of the debate where Edwards discussed the Economy:
Our focus group gave some o fht emost favorable ratings of the debate to John Edwards when he argued that the economy is out of balance and hits middle class Americans.
I watched the entire debate with this feature turned on and it was very enlightening in process, because this were my initial impressions which I wrote in a comment over at myDD:
Takeaways:
- Edwards did well, and on most questions did almost as well with Indies as Obama, though there were a couple where Dems loved his answers but Indies not so much.
- Obama did very well with Indies. On some questions, he did considerably better with Indies than with Dems (I think he was the only one who did, but I might have missed it with others), but most he did well with both. On some of his weakest answers, however, the response he elicited from both Indies and Dems was lower than either Edwards or Clinton.
- Clinton has a big problem with Indies. On almost every question there was a big gap between how Dems viewed her answer and how Indies did. On a lot of questions, however, the Dems thought she was strong.
- Richardson got a good response on a few questions, but a pretty mediocre response on a fair number, too.
Afterwards, I found WMUR had posted videos highlights of their focus groups reaction to the debate, and I noticed that my impressions were confirmed.
Edwards did well with his answer about the economy as well as his declaration about getting the troops out of Iraq:
When John Edwards said he would remove the troops from Iraq and end the war within his first year, the focus group reacted positively. In general, each candidate was evaluated favorably when they said they would end the war and bring troops home.
Also, WMUR also noted the effect that I noticed where Hillary Clinton did well with the Dem focus group members but not as well with the Independent ones:
Clinton did well with the Dem focus group members but not as well with the Independent ones
It will be interesting to see the media spin on the debate.