According to the poll, nearly half of the students in the auditorium identified themselves as Republicans and 34% said they were Democrats. Still, 57% said President Obama came out on top. "I wasn't really looking forward to a standup comedy routine by the President, which at certain points I believe we got. Therefore, I believe the president did possibly win over a certain demographic of undecided voters," said Fresno State Senior and registered Republican Max Soler.
At this point in the election, both Mitt Romney and Obama are trying to win over those undecided voters. "Obviously they're both going to say they both don't want a nuclear Iran and they want to protect Israel. So I think Romney came across as he was looking for differences between him and Obama, but for the most part, they're the same," said Fresno State Senior and Democrat Danny Griffith.
Political science professor Jeff Cummins led the post-debate discussion with the students. He said as the incumbent, Obama had the advantage going into the debate. "Romney's goal was probably more than anything trying to tie Obama back to the economy. That's what Romney wants -- to bring it back to the economy. That's what Romney wants to decide the election on. He doesn't want to decide on foreign policy because generally speaking, the public thinks Romney is doing a good job on foreign policy," said Cummins.
