<p>Americans who watched the third presidential debate Oct 22 are significantly more likely to say President Barack Obama did a better job than Republican challenger Mitt Romney, according to a new poll.</p>.<p>The USA Today/Gallup poll, taken entirely after the last debate focused on foreign policy and held in Boca Raton, Florida, indicated 56 percent of debate watchers thought Obama did a better job while 33 percent thought Romney won.</p>.<p>Despite his poorly rated performance in the first debate, Obama came back and was rated the "winner" in the second and third debates.<br /><br />These two victories appear to have enabled him to neutralise the impact of his poor outing in the first debate, with the two candidates ending up in a virtual draw when Americans judge all three debates together, Gallup said that this mirrors the closeness of the White House race overall.</p>.<p>A CNN/ORC International poll taken after the Florida debate also showed Obama with a slight edge over Romney. Forty-eight percent of registered voters who watched the debate thought Obama won while 40 percent thought Romney did the better job.</p>.<p>Obama's eight-point advantage over Romney came among a debate audience that was slightly more Republican than the country as a whole and is just within the survey's sampling error.<br /><br />The Gallup poll also indicated debate watchers split evenly on which candidate did a better job overall in the three presidential debates. Forty-six percent said Romney did the better job and 44 percent said Obama - a two point margin that is well within the survey's sampling error.</p>.<p>A Gallup survey taken after the second presidential debate in Hempstead, New York also showed those who watched the second presidential face-off thought Obama won, 51 percent to Romney's 38 percent.<br /><br />Following the first presidential debate in Denver, Colorado and a noticeably lacklustre performance from the president, debate watchers believed Romney won by a wider margin, 72 percent to Obama's 20 percent.<br /><br />Thursday's Gallup poll was conducted Oct 23-24 among 746 debate watchers aged 18 and older. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus four percentage points.</p>
<p>Americans who watched the third presidential debate Oct 22 are significantly more likely to say President Barack Obama did a better job than Republican challenger Mitt Romney, according to a new poll.</p>.<p>The USA Today/Gallup poll, taken entirely after the last debate focused on foreign policy and held in Boca Raton, Florida, indicated 56 percent of debate watchers thought Obama did a better job while 33 percent thought Romney won.</p>.<p>Despite his poorly rated performance in the first debate, Obama came back and was rated the "winner" in the second and third debates.<br /><br />These two victories appear to have enabled him to neutralise the impact of his poor outing in the first debate, with the two candidates ending up in a virtual draw when Americans judge all three debates together, Gallup said that this mirrors the closeness of the White House race overall.</p>.<p>A CNN/ORC International poll taken after the Florida debate also showed Obama with a slight edge over Romney. Forty-eight percent of registered voters who watched the debate thought Obama won while 40 percent thought Romney did the better job.</p>.<p>Obama's eight-point advantage over Romney came among a debate audience that was slightly more Republican than the country as a whole and is just within the survey's sampling error.<br /><br />The Gallup poll also indicated debate watchers split evenly on which candidate did a better job overall in the three presidential debates. Forty-six percent said Romney did the better job and 44 percent said Obama - a two point margin that is well within the survey's sampling error.</p>.<p>A Gallup survey taken after the second presidential debate in Hempstead, New York also showed those who watched the second presidential face-off thought Obama won, 51 percent to Romney's 38 percent.<br /><br />Following the first presidential debate in Denver, Colorado and a noticeably lacklustre performance from the president, debate watchers believed Romney won by a wider margin, 72 percent to Obama's 20 percent.<br /><br />Thursday's Gallup poll was conducted Oct 23-24 among 746 debate watchers aged 18 and older. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus four percentage points.</p>