The CNN/ORC Poll taken immediately after the debate showed that the public thought Hillary Clinton was the debate winner (57% to 34%). Now another poll has been released on that question. It is the YouGov Poll -- done on October 9th of a random national sample of 812 debate viewers, with a 3.9 point margin of error.
A plurality of voters (47%) said Clinton won the debate, while 42% said Trump won (and 12% thought it was a tie).
It gets even better for Clinton when respondents were asked about qualities exhibited by the candidates during the debate (see bottom chart). Respondents thought Clinton was more prepared (+23), more knowledgable (+27), less evasive (+7), more positive (+19), less negative (+24), and more presidential (+26).
Donald Trump needed to make up some electoral ground in that debate. He did not do that.
