Who Won?

We know that some post-debate strategies that candidates use are to run ads that underscore the debate themes and to use a well-coordinate surrogate effort to claim that their candidate won.

Today, the McCain campaign released its latest web ad, entitled "Joe the Plumber." The ad highlights Barack Obama's plans to increase taxes on Americans, even as they seek to build their own small businesses and create jobs. While Barack Obama talks about cutting taxes, his plan is really just a plan to "spread the wealth around" instead of creating new wealth and new opportunity. There is a similar ad on the main page of the McCain website where he talks about Obama's comment about spreading the wealth around and again tries to get people to understand that Obama is refusing common sense solutions. The ad continues on to touch on the main issues brought up in last night's debate.

Also, there is a press release prominently displayed on the website titled, "What They're Saying About John McCain at the Hofstra Debate." It lists the comments of 10 or so prominent individuals, involved in media and politics, all praising McCain's performance and declaring him the winner. For example, ABC News' George Stephanopoulos said, "This was his best debate so far. He was able to set the agenda on a lot of issues like taxes, especially with Joe Wurzelbacher." MSNBC's Pat Buchanan said, "I do believe that this was John McCain's best campaign. I think he clearly won it on points. It was his best performance. He was intense and ideological and he's appealing to the base, clearly."

We know that the effects often lag behind the debate because most people do not reach a final judgement until they have discussed the debate with others and have observed the media reaction. Despite polls released saying that Obama won the debate 53% to 22% (McCain), the McCain campaign has made a host of surrogate spokespeople claiming their candidate won available to the press.