New University Of Denver Poll: Obama Holds Narrow Lead In Colorado; Voters Overwhelmingly Say Romney Won First Debate

Strong Debate Performance Improves Voters' Impressions of GOP Nominee

DENVER, Oct. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --The University of Denver, host of the first Presidential debate on Oct. 3, today released poll results that found President Barack Obama leading Governor Mitt Romney among likely voters in Colorado, 47-43. Four percent said that they would vote for someone else, and five percent noted that they remain undecided. The poll also found that President Obama is currently leading among independent voters, 48-31.

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Despite President Obama's current lead in Colorado, respondents have improving impressions of Gov. Romney. Those who said that they watched or heard about the debate believe that Gov. Romney won by a huge margin, 68-19. That includes almost half of Obama supporters (47 percent), with just 37 percent of the President's supporters saying he did the better job. In addition, 38 percent of likely Colorado voters said their impression of Gov. Romney is improving, while 18 percent of respondents felt the same way about President Obama.

"Two important lessons from the polls are, first, there are very few undecided voters left in Colorado, and second, Gov. Romney has improved his position to win them over in the closing days of the race," said University of Denver political scientist Dr. Peter Hanson. "President Obama is maintaining a narrow lead in the state, but the major question is how much movement we can expect in the polls in coming weeks with not many voters left for the candidates to persuade."

A huge majority of Colorado's likely voters paid close attention the debate. Eighty-one percent said they watched the debate and another 14 percent said they had heard about it.  When asked an open-ended question about where the debate took place, 74 percent correctly identified the University of Denver (35 percent said "the University of Denver," 21 percent said " Denver University," and 18 percent said "DU").

Nationwide, the debate was viewed by 67.2 million people, according to recent Nielsen ratings. The debate's major effect was reinforcing existing views of likely voters rather than changing them. Sixty-nine percent of debate watchers became more strongly committed to their candidate, while only 7 percent became less strongly committed to their candidate.  Five percent of debate watchers reported changing their minds. 

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