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Instant Reaction Polls Give Romney Big Debate Victory

CNN, CBS, NEW YORK TIMES (US)

Worldcrunch

Instant reaction polls, conducted late Wednesday night, showed Republican candidate Mitt Romney won the first presidential debate in Denver, in a performance expected to raise GOP hopes just one month before the election.

According to a CNN/ORC poll of 430 people who watched the debate, 67% of registered voters thought Romney came out on top, with only 25% believing Obama won.

The poll also suggested that 58% of voters felt Romney had shown himself to be a strong leader, while 37% said the same about Obama.

A poll of undecided voters, conducted by CBS News, also gave Romney the advantage with 46% believing Romney won, 22% siding with Obama and 32% remaining undecided.

The New York Times is reporting that the 67% swing, swaying toward Romney in the CNN poll, was higher than any of the figures in the 2008 surveys, where Obama scored 51% in the first debate and 58% in the third and final debate against Republican John McCain.

It remains unclear how much impact televised debates have on the final electoral outcome, however CNN Senior Political Analyst David Gergen called it Romney's best performance.

"A week ago, people were saying this was over. We've got a horse race," Gergen said.

Romney on a roll, inventing a new tax policy as he goes; Obama with that sourpuss look, head down. Not a good start for him.#denverdebate

— chrissatullo (@chrissatullo) October 4, 2012

Romney ticks off five-point plan for jobs with good verve.As Jim Fallows said, Mitt has some game when it comes to debates. #denverdebate

— chrissatullo (@chrissatullo) October 4, 2012

Romney appeared coherent and forceful last night compared to Obama, who was hesitant, drawn and defensive.

Democrat Strategist James Carville told CNN: "It looked like Romney wanted to be there and President Obama didn't want to be there ... The President didn't bring his "A" game."

#forwardnotback Obama was calm and respectful tonight Romney acted like he was a real housewife at a reunion show

— Stephen Wren (@ImNotTan) October 4, 2012

Romney wants to cut health carePre existing conditions ----privatize social security privatize everything -- why didn't Obama fight ?

— John Cusack (@johncusack) October 4, 2012

The economy dominated the 90-minute debate with the two presidential candidates sparring over healthcare, employment and tax-cuts - with Romney denying he intended to extend Bush-era tax-cuts for the wealthy.

"I'm not in favor of a $5 trillion tax cut. That's not my plan … So you may keep referring to it as a $5 trillion tax cut, but that's not my plan," the Republican candidate said.

He did, however, claim he would cut funding for the public broadcasting television network PBS:

WTF Mitt Romney... :(

— Big Bird (@BlGBlRD) October 4, 2012

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FOCUS: Israel-Palestine War

BDS And Us: Gaza's Toll Multiplies Boycotts Of Israel And Its Allies — Seinfeld Included

In Egypt and elsewhere in the region and the world, families and movements are mobilizing against companies that support Israel's war on Gaza. The power of the people lies in their control as consumers — and the list of companies and brands to boycott grows longer.

A campaign poster with the photo of a burger with blood coming out of it with text reading "You Kill" and the Burger King logo

A campaign poster to boycott Burger King in Bangkok, Malü

Matt Hunt/ZUMA
Mohammed Hamama

CAIRO — Ali Al-Din’s logic is simple and straightforward: “If you buy a can (of soda), you'll get the bullet too...”

Those bullets are the ones killing the children of Gaza every day, and the can he refuses to buy is “kanzaya” – the popular Egyptian soft drink. It is just one of a long list of products he had the habit of consuming. Ali is nine years old.

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The clarity and simplicity of this logic has pushed Ali Al-Din to boycott all the products on the lists people are circulating of companies that have supported Israel since the attacks on Gaza began in October. His mother, Heba, points out that her son took responsibility for overseeing the boycott in their home.

A few days ago, he saw a can of “Pyrosol” insecticide, but he thought it was one of the products of the “Raid” company that was on the boycott’s lists. He warned his mother that this product was on the boycott list, but she explained that the two products were different. Ali al-Din and his younger brother also abstained from eating any food from McDonald's. “They love McDonald’s very much,” his mother says. “But they refuse.”

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