Voters think Hillary Clinton won Sunday’s debate despite Donald Trump’s improved performance.
According to a Politico/Morning Consult survey conducted just after the second presidential debate on Sunday ended, 42 percent of registered voters thought the former secretary of state was the winner, compared to the 28 percent who thought Trump won. However, that’s a 7 point dip for Clinton from the first debate, when 47 percent of voters said she was the victor.
Trump’s support remains roughly unchanged as he lost only 1 point from the last poll, despite the release of a lewd video on Friday that led many Republicans to say they can’t support him. Trump fell 2 points, but that is still within the margin of error. Clinton gained just 1 point following the debate and is ahead of Trump 42-37.
Forty-five percent said they have a less favorable view of Trump after the second debate and 35 percent said the same about Clinton.
Poll participants were highly complimentary of moderators CNN’s Anderson Cooper and ABC News’ Martha Raddatz — Cooper was rated as excellent by 61 percent and 57 percent gave the same rating to Raddatz. Responses were less conclusive about whether the moderators favored Clinton, as only 5 percent thought they treated Trump unfairly.
Both candidates are still disliked by voters. Trump is considered sexist by 60 percent and 50 percent think he is racist. Sixty-three percent say Clinton is too secretive and 55 percent say she is corrupt. Neither candidates are considered in touch with the American people, said 51 percent of survey participants.
However, voters perceive the Democratic Party as more unified than the Republican Party as Election Day nears, 75 percent to 32 percent. About seven out of 10 Democrats, Republicans, and independents polled were united in their belief that the Republican Party is divided.
The survey of 1,757 likely voters and 2,001 registered voters was conducted on Oct. 10 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 and 2 percentage points respectively.
