CBS NEWS POLL For Release: October 11, 2012 Immediate Release

The Vice-Presidential Debate: Uncommitted Voters Pick Biden as Debate Winner October 11, 2012 Immediately after the Vice Presidential debate, CBS News interviewed a nationally representative sample of debate watchers assembled by GfKs Knowledge Panel who were uncommitted voters voters who are either undecided about who to vote for or who say they could still change their minds. By a double-digit margin, uncommitted debate watchers think Joe Biden won the debate. 50% say he won, while 31% think Paul Ryan was the winner. 19% call it a tie. Who Won the Debate? (Uncommitted Voters Who Watched Debate) Joe Biden 50% Paul Ryan 31 Tie 19 Before the debate, more of these uncommitted voters (42%) thought Ryan would do a better job; just 14% expected Biden to win. These uncommitted voters are less likely than voters overall to identify with either of the two major political parties. 58% describe themselves as politically independent, 17% identify as Republicans and 25% are Democrats. Overall impressions of both Vice Presidential candidates improved after the debate. Opinions of the Candidates After Tonights Debate (Uncommitted Voters Who Watched Debate) Joe Biden Paul Ryan Changed for the better 42% 38% Changed for the worse 17 22 No change 40 39 Following the debate, more uncommitted voters think Vice President Biden shares their positions on issues than think Ryan does. Biden also wins on relatability, but Ryan improved on this measure post-debate as well. Joe Biden made significant gains in these voters views of his ability to be an effective president if necessary. After the debate, 56% of uncommitted voters think Biden would be able to serve effectively as president, up from 39% before the debate. Ryan improved four points on this measure. Still, both Joe Biden and Paul Ryan are seen as knowledgeable about the issues, and uncommitted voters think both care about their needs and problems.

Biden and Ryan: Candidate Qualities (Among uncommitted voters who watched debate) Joe Biden Now Pre-debate Shares your positions on the issues? Yes 56% 41% No 43 55 Cares about your needs and problems? Yes 72% 55% No 28 41 Is someone you can relate to? Yes 55% 34% No 45 62 Is knowledgeable about important issues facing the country? Yes 85% 61% No 15 35 Has the ability to be an effective President, if necessary? Yes 56% 39% No 43 57

Paul Ryan Now Pre-debate 43% 56 61% 38 48% 51 75% 24 49% 50 30% 64 38% 56 31% 63 65% 30 45 49

After the debate, 38% of uncommitted voters say Ryans positions on the issues are too conservative, but about the same percentage think Bidens views are too liberal. These figures are down from before the debate. More uncommitted voters say the candidates views on the issues are about right. Candidate Views on Issues (Among uncommitted voters who watched debate) Now Pre-Debate Ryans Views are Too conservative for you 38% 48% Not conservative enough 11 12 About right 51 34 Bidens Views are Too liberal for you Not liberal enough About right

39% 5 56

45% 7 42

Uncommitted voters include both undecided voters and those who say they have a candidate preference, but could still change their minds. Before the debate, 28% favored the Romney/Ryan ticket and 23% favored Barack Obama and Joe Biden, while 45% were still undecided. After the debate, the Democratic ticket had closed the gap, with 33% favoring Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, and 32% favoring the Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Vote Among Uncommitted Debate Watchers (Among uncommitted voters who watched debate) Post-debate Pre-debate Obama 32% 23% Romney 33 28 Still undecided 32 46 ____________________________________________________________________________

This CBS News poll was conducted online using GfKs web-enabled KnowledgePanel, a probabilitybased panel designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The poll was conducted among a nationwide random sample of 431 uncommitted voters who have agreed to watch the debate. Uncommitted voters are those who dont yet know who they will vote for, or who have chosen a candidate but may still change their minds. GfKs KnowledgePanel participants are initially chosen scientifically by a random selection of telephone numbers and residential addresses. Persons in selected households are then invited by telephone or by mail to participate in the web-enabled KnowledgePanel. For those who agree to participate, but do not already have Internet access, GfK provides at no cost a laptop and ISP connection. This is a scientifically representative poll of uncommitted voters reaction to the presidential debate. The margin of sampling error could be plus or minus 5 percentage points for results based on the entire sample.

CBS NEWS POLL Vice Presidential Debate October 11th, 2012 PostQ1. Which candidate do you think did the best job or won tonight's debate? UNCOMMITTED VOTERS WHO WATCHED THE DEBATE 50% 31 19

Joe Biden Paul Ryan Tie

PostQ3. After tonight's debate, has your opinion of Joe Biden: Changed for the better Changed for the worse Not changed Refused 42% 17 40 1

PostQ4. After tonight's debate, has your opinion of Paul Ryan: Changed for the better Changed for the worse Not changed Refused 38% 22 39 1

PostQ6. Now that the debate is over, do you think Joe Biden Shares your positions on the issues? After Debate 56% 43 1 Before Debate 41% 55 4

Yes No Refused

Is someone you can relate to? Yes No Refused 55% 45 -34% 62 4

Cares about your needs and problems? Yes No Refused 72% 28 -55% 41 4

Is knowledgeable about important issues facing the country? Yes No Refused 85% 15 -61% 35 4

PostQ6. Now that the debate is over, do you think Joe Biden Has the ability to be an effective President, if necessary? UNCOMMITTED VOTERS WHO WATCHED THE DEBATE After Debate Before Debate 56% 39% 43 57 1 4

Yes No Refused

PostQ7. Now that the debate is over, do you think Paul Ryan Shares your positions on the issues? Yes No Refused 43% 56 1 30% 64 6

Is someone you can relate to? Yes No Refused 48% 51 1 31% 63 6

Cares about your needs and problems? Yes No Refused 61% 38 1 38% 56 6

Is knowledgeable about important issues facing the country? Yes No Refused 75% 24 1 65% 30 5

Has the ability to be an effective President, if necessary? Yes No Refused 49% 50 1 45% 49 6

PostQ8a Do you think Joe Bidens views on most issues are too liberal for you, not liberal enough, or just about right? Too liberal for you Not liberal enough About right 39% 5 56 45% 7 42

PostQ8a Do you think Paul Ryans views on most issues are too conservative for you, not conservative enough, or just about right? Too liberal for you Not liberal enough About right 38% 11 51 48% 12 34

PostQ9. If the 2012 presidential election were being held today would you vote for? UNCOMMITTED VOTERS WHO WATCHED THE DEBATE After Debate Before Debate 32% 23% 33 28 3 3 32 46 ---

Barack Obama and Joe Biden Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan Other Depends/Undecided Refused

PostQ10. Is your mind made up or is it still too early to say for sure? UNCOMMITTED VOTERS WHO WATCHED THE DEBATE WITH CANDIDATE CHOICE 36% 62

Mind made up Too early to say for sure

Total Respondents:

431