Voter panels at MSNBC and Fox News both sway to Romney from debate

After Tuesday night’s debate, MSNBC gathered some undecided voters and Fox News’ Frank Luntz gathered former Obama voters to discuss their feelings on the candidate’s performance during the debate.

While I felt the debate went slightly to Obama because he made no mistakes and Romney missed a few opportunities, neither performance resonated as a stand out and is unlikely to slow Romney’s current momentum. In the minds of the two panels, Obama lost.

In the Fox News/Luntz panel, the former Obama voters overwhelmingly picked Romney as they found Obama failed to tell them what his plan for the next four years would be:

More surprising was the outcome of the MSNBC group of undecided voters who also felt the debate win should be given to Romney:

CNN also did a registered voter poll with some results that may help us understand why the undecideds leaned the way they did. Obama might have been stronger, but Romney had a better story on taxes and the economy – things undecideds actually care about.

Overall the poll gave the win to Obama 46-39 percent – a 7% margin, but on the issues that undecided voters pay attention to, Romney is way out front:

*On who would better handle the economy: 58 percent Romney; 40 percent Obama.
*On who would better handle health care: 49 percent Romney; 46 percent Obama
*On taxes: 51 percent Romney; 44 percent Obama

On issues that are less-likely to influence voters Obama took the lead:

*On who is a stronger leader: 49 percent Romney; 46 percent Obama
*On who is more likeable: 47 percent Obama: 41 percent Romney