Despite the experts' dismissal of Tuesday's presidential debate, many undecided Virginia voters who spoke with ABC 7/NewsChannel 8 both before and after the forum say they've made up their minds.
Several on-the-fence voters had said they were looking forward to the town hall-style faceoff between Sens. John McCain (web|news|bio) and Barack Obama (web|news|bio), in hope of reaching a final verdict. But pundits slammed the forum; the Politico labeled it the 'worst debate' in modern history.
On Tuesday, Paul Buckner told ABC 7/Newschannel 8: "I just don't know which way to go."
By Wednesday, he had made up his mind: "I definitely on November 4th will be there for Obama," he said Wednesday. "I'm sure my wife won't be too happy with me, but that's what I'm going to do."
Joshua Zalkin and Susan Brown were on the fence 24 hours ago. Watching the two candidates square off last night changed them from uncertain voters to Obama supporters. Neither was impressed by Republican John McCain's performance, they said.
"I found that McCain was attacking Obama quite a bit," said Zalkin.
"I think that John McCain's physical appearance, overall physical appearance in a debate like that, a town hall debate, where he's up and walking around, kind of makes you worry if he can hold office for maybe 8 years," observed Brown.
But not everyone was sold on one of the candidates. Deidre Castronovo watched Tuesday night's debate intently, but come Wednesday, she was still uncertain about for whom she will vote Nov. 4.
"It helped a little, but I felt there was a lot of things they needed to answer more directly," she said.
Politico's Beth Frerking wasn't surprised by that sentiment. She says last night's debate wasn't groundbreaking, and she didn't think it would sway any undecided voters.
"In the end, what they'll probably be deciding on is less on policies points, less on talking points, less on plans and more on who is the best leader," Frerking said.
Undecided voters have one more debate left before the election. The candidates will face off Wednesday, Oct. 15, at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.
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