President Barack Obama won the second presidential debate by a large margin, beating challenger Mitt Romney among both the general electorate and undecided voters, according to polling of viewers who watched the event via Microsoft’s Xbox Live online service.
Microsoft streamed the event on its Xbox Live platform, making it available to any user with a paying membership. Because the service is designed around interactive game play, the company was able to display polling questions on the screen while the debate played in the background; viewers only had to click a button to register their opinion.
More than 100,000 members weighed in on 70 polling questions, offering more than two million individual responses. According to Microsoft, the aggregate raw responses to the poll questions clearly favored President Obama.
More crucially, Obama did very well among voters who identified themselves as undecided or merely leaning towards a a candidate:
- 51% of undecideds declared Obama the victor, while 17% said Romney won. 32% remained unsure.
- Among those who leaned Romney prior to the debate, 19% thought Obama won. Only 2% of voters leaning Obama thought Romney won the debate.
- 28% of undecideds either leaned or decisively supported Obama post-debate. 10% either leaned or decisively supported Romney post-debate.
- 52% of undecideds declared Obama the most truthful, and 17% declared Romney the most truthful.
- 56% of undecideds thought Obama was specific enough about his plans, while 17% thought Romney was specific enough about his plans.
Microsoft also released the following results:
The third and final presidential debate will take place on at 9 PM Eastern on October 22: Microsoft will host another Xbox Live event beginning at 7 PM with a Rock the Vote concert featuring Neon Trees and DJ Skee.
Microsoft’s Live service has given the company a distinct edge over competitors Sony and Nintendo when it comes to interactive television and live events like the presidential debates. Neither company streamed last night’s event or has announced plans to do so with the final debate.
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