Sparks flew during the vice presidential debate Thursday but early polls has shown mixed reactions as to who performed best.
A survey conducted by CNN after the debate found that voters considered Paul Ryan the winner, 48 percent to 44 percent, but that was well within the survey's five percentage point margin of error. Respondents also said they thought Ryan communicated more clearly than Vice President Joe Biden, by a 50 percent to 41 percent margin, and that Ryan was more likable, 53 percent to 43 percent.
Those margins likely reflect the underlying partisan composition of the debate viewers that CNN interviewed. The cable network reported that slightly more Republicans viewed the debate (33 percent) than Democrats (31 percent), while 34 percent identified as independents.
The candidates performed similarly on whether respondents thought they were qualified to be president: 60 percent thought Ryan qualified and 38 percent did not. They said Biden was qualified by a 57 percent to 42 percent margin.
Fifty-five percent of CNN respondents said Biden performed better than they expected, 26 percent said he did worse, and 18 percent said he did the same as they expected. Ryan also impressed, with 51 percent saying he performed better, 19 percent worse, and 28 percent said he performed the same.
CNN surveyed 381 registered voters who had participated in a previous CNN poll, watched the debate, and agreed to be interviewed.
Another poll by CBS News of uncommitted voters using an online panel found that both candidates made solid impressions, but that more of those voters felt that the debate was a win for Biden. The survey found that 50 percent thought Biden won, 31 percent that Ryan won, and 19 percent that the debate was a tie.
Last night, the vice presidents turned the lone vice presidential debate into an uncharacteristically feisty affair, scrapping over everything from the economy to Libya to taxes. But it was the vice president who set the aggressive tone, blatantly striving to hit the reset after President Obama was panned for his lackluster performance at last week's opening debate.
If Obama was too cold, Biden at times bordered on too hot, analysts said afterward.
He chuckled and smirked through many of Ryan's responses. But unlike Obama a week ago, he let few points go unchallenged.
Biden went after the Romney/Ryan ticket with a directness that Obama did not. Notably, he hammered Mitt Romney over his secretly videotaped comment in which he said he doesn't have to worry about the "47 percent" of Americans who don't pay federal income taxes.
"These people are my mom and dad, the people I grew up with, my neighbors," Biden said, adding he's "had it up to here" with those kinds of comments.
Ryan shot back, in reference to Biden's tendency to make gaffes: "As the vice president very well knows ... sometimes the words don't come out of your mouth the right way."
"But I always say what I mean," Biden responded.
Ryan, though, got his points in, maintaining a steady and comparatively reserved demeanor throughout.
