More than half of Americans think President Obama rebounded from a lackluster debate performance earlier this month to beat Republican challenger Mitt Romney in Tuesday’s presidential debate, according to a survey released Friday.
The Gallup poll found that 51 percent of adults surveyed said Mr. Obama was the victor in Tuesday’s debate while 38 percent said the president was outperformed by Mr. Romney.
Mr. Obama hoped to regain momentum in the campaign after his performance in the Oct. 3 debate between the candidates was widely panned as lethargic and passive. A Gallup poll after that debate showed that 72 percent of Americans considered Mr. Romney to be the winner, compared to just 20 percent for the president.
Friday’s poll found that impressions of the second presidential debate were split largely along party lines with Democrats favoring Mr. Obama over Mr. Romney, 88 percent to 4 percent, and Republicans favoring Mr. Romney, 78 percent to 9 percent.
Fifty-four percent of independents said Mr. Obama won the debate while 33 percent declared Mr. Romney to be the winner.
