National Survey of 1,000 Likely Voters Each Night
Conducted September 19-20, 2008
By Rasmussen Reports

1* How likely are you to watch the Presidential debates this year?

74% Very likely
19% Somewhat likely

5% Not very likely

1% Not at all likely

0% Not sure

2* How important are the Presidential debates in determining your vote?

26% Very important

41% Somewhat important

25% Not very important

8% Not at all important

0% Not sure

3* Which debate are you more interested in the Presidential debate or the vice presidential debate?

67% Presidential debate

25% Vice-Presidential debate

8% Not sure

4* Which debate format do you prefer…the format where a network anchor asks the questions or a town hall format?

39% Where network anchor asks the questions

51% Town hall format

11% Not sure

5* Who will the debates help more….John McCain or Barack Obama?

35% John McCain

37% Barack Obama

28% Not sure

6* Are debate moderators generally unbiased or do they show bias in their questioning?

23% Unbiased

56% Biased

21% Not sure

7* Do Presidential debates give the voters a good sense of where candidates stand on issues?

53% Yes

31% No

15% Not sure

8* Do you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable impression of Jim Lehrer?

13% Very favorable

25% Somewhat favorable

18% Somewhat unfavorable

7% Very unfavorable

36% Not sure

9* While moderating the debate will Jim Lehrer try to help Barack Obama, help John McCain or will he play a neutral role to help voter make an informed choice?

22% Help Barack Obama

6% Help John McCain

43% Play a neutral role

29% Not sure

10* Which television network is Jim Lehrer affiliated with?

4% ABC

3% CBS

3% NBC

37% PBS

2% FOX

5% CNN

1% MSNBC

45% Not sure

NOTE: Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence