Election 2008 Democrats | Republicans | General Election: Heads-to-Heads | Latest Polls

---

February 21, 2008

Luntz Focus Group on the Democratic Debate

Hannity & Colmes

COLMES: Well, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton squared off in another debate tonight in Texas. Our own Frank Luntz is on the ground for a reaction from a new focus group of undecided Democratic voters.

And, Frank, we here, we didn't see. We're busy in show prep and doing our show. So maybe you can fill us in. How did it go tonight, and what's the crowd there saying?

FRANK LUNTZ, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: This is one of those great evenings when you get a chance to watch voters as they come to their final point of view. Let's go to them.

How many of you, after watching the debate, thought that Barack Obama won it? Raise your hands. Three, four, five, only seven of you. How many of you thought Hillary Clinton won the debates? A heck of a lot more of you

.

How many of you thought this debate exceeded your expectations? Raise your hands. None of you. How many of you were disappointed? Raise your hands. Get that. Get across here.

What were you disappointed with?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They didn't say anything different. They both said the same thing. They were kind of -- Hillary would say something, and then Obama would basically say the same thing.

LUNTZ: Disappointed?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obama clearly wasn't really answering any of the questions. He was going around them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was boring. Nobody answered the questions directly, and I'm still annoyed with Hillary Clinton beating around the bush on the immigration issue. I think that bothered me the most.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I agree with. I think that Obama's contact. He was always taking notes. There was no eye-to-eye contact. There was no preciseness. And his eyes kept wandering around. He kept wandering around. I was disappointed.

And I agree with Hillary. I agree with Obama, but I think that the meat there was from Hillary.

LUNTZ: Were you disappointed?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was disappointed, because Hillary was beating around the bush, so to speak. And she wasn't giving straight answers, but she was beating around the bush with the questions. She wasn't straightforward for the questions.

LUNTZ: I've got to ask you. How many -- how many months pregnant?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have about a month left.

LUNTZ: Let's not have the child right here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I promise.

LUNTZ: For your child, as you look at this -- you're a Democrat?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

LUNTZ: You're excited about the Democrats?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

LUNTZ: Did this debate make you more excited or less excited?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It made me more excited.

LUNTZ: Tell me why.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because they're actually working together. I felt like it was annoying that they were constantly talking to each other about the same things and agreeing. But I mean, they're working together, which is definitely an improvement from what we've had.

LUNTZ: Joan, your reaction?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I think Hillary was more honest and truthful. Because, I mean, one thing, you know, when the question was asked she did answer them honestly. And I did change my mind. I decided I would go with Hillary today.

LUNTZ: Brenda?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

LUNTZ: Your reaction to the debate?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was somewhat bland. It wasn't the fireworks that we were led to believe.

LUNTZ: So you wanted fireworks?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I sure did. I agree with everybody else that says that basically the two of them agreed on everything.

LUNTZ: You guys wanted fireworks?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

LUNTZ: No, you don't. You're Democrats. Don't you want to defeat George Bush and John McCain and all that Republican stuff?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We already have.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the Democrats are going to win anyhow. Regardless. But, we need to get the best candidate out there. And if they're not going to debate each other, what's the use? I mean, they're agreeing with each other. Hillary's nodding her head all night long.

LUNTZ: You wanted them to argue?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

LUNTZ: You want them to take it on. You all agree with that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

LUNTZ: How many of you want them to really argue? Raise your hands. And how many of you want them to make love to each other?

Alan, go ahead.

COLMES: Frank, what I want to know is how many people changed their vote because of tonight and which way did they change it?

LUNTZ: This is a question. Did any of you walk in here supporting Hillary and now supports Obama? None of you. Did anyone walk in here supporting Obama and now support Senator Clinton? None of you. Who were the undecideds when you walked in? Truly, deeply undecided? Where did you go?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I went to Obama.

LUNTZ: You went to Obama.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I saw his commercials, he was an alpha. He was coming out there strong. When he was on this debate, he showed more character, more -- more depth.

LUNTZ: Where'd you go?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I went with Hillary. She was calm, cool, and collected. And I think her experience showed.

LUNTZ: Where did you go?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I totally agree with Hillary. I believe she was a lot more prepared. She -- she just basically knew a lot more about what she was talking about, clearly.

LUNTZ: Where did you go?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I went with Hillary. I felt strongly about her and stuff.

LUNTZ: Any other -- anybody else? Where did you go, Stan?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that Clinton won the debate, because I think she's stronger in the debate setting. But I think when people see the grandiose speeches that Obama gives in arenas, I think they're going to lean more towards him.

LUNTZ: So you think Obama is going to win?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The way it is now he is winning. And since they didn't distinguish themselves, they both basically said the same thing, Hillary didn't put herself ahead. They're about even to where they were before.

LUNTZ: Last question. Who's going to win this? How many of you think Hillary Clinton is going to get the nomination and you'd bet on it? Five of you. How many of you think Obama is going to win the nomination? This is an example of momentum.

You've got the last comment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. What Obama offers is he wants to work with everybody. He is showing that, unlike we were told our president would be a uniter, he actually is bringing people from all different facets, red and blue states, rich and poor. And he is going to carry the country to work toward change.

LUNTZ: That's got to be the last word. We're going to come back and hear more from our focus group momentarily. Back to you guys.

LOWRY: OK. Thanks, Frank. Fascinating stuff. We're back in two minutes with more of Frank Luntz's all-new focus group. Stick with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LOWRY: Welcome back to "Hannity & Colmes." We continue now with Frank Luntz and his brand-new focus group of undecided Democratic Texas voters.

Frank, take it away.

LUNTZ: There was one specific bite. And we've been using our patented FOX dials to register the reactions of Democrats in this case on a second-by-second basis.

The higher that you see the lines climb, the more favorable the reactions. But if they go down, and particularly if they go down below 50, they're not liking what they're hearing.

Hillary Clinton took a shot at Barack Obama over the issue of plagiarism. And as you can see from the dials, it did not play well at all. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I think that, if your candidacy is going to be about words, then they should be your own words. That's, I think, a very simple proposition. And you know, lifting whole passages from someone else's speeches is not change you can believe in. It's change you can Xerox. And I just don't think...

OBAMA: That's not what happened.

CLINTON: You know, but Barack, it is. Because if, you know -- if you look -- if you look -- if you look at the YouTube of these videos, it does raise questions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LUNTZ: So let's go about those raising questions. "It's not change you can believe in, it's change that you can Xerox." That's a pretty strong line. Your reaction?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that, first of all, that they both quoted John F. Kennedy. They quoted other people. And they said they were quoting them. In this point, they did not -- he did not say that he was quoting the certain governor. He was just...

LUNTZ: So how do you feel about Hillary Clinton coming after him that way?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was great.

LUNTZ: You liked it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I liked it.

LUNTZ: He liked it. Why did you like it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I liked it. Call him out on it. They haven't been doing that enough. Call him out on it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think that was right. I think it's a little unfair on her part. I think she was trying to use that tactic against him, to get the upper hand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No more nicey-nicey. This is for the presidency of the United States. We need people who are not going to pull their punches. Because you're going to say somebody from another country say something, you're going to call them on it. It needs to be done, too.

LUNTZ: In the back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Obama talks about ethics all the time. It's unethical to steal other people's work and not give them credit for it. And if he's using someone else's words in his speeches, well, then he's being unethical. How can they believe him?

LUNTZ: Rich, you got a question for these people?

LOWRY: Yes, Frank. I'm kind of curious. We heard in the prior block what attracted the Hillary leaners to Hillary and the Obama leaners to Obama. I'm curious about the flip side of that coin. What is it that the Hillary leaners don't like about Obama? And what is it that the Obama leaders don't like about Hillary?

LUNTZ: Those of you who support Barack Obama, let's flip it around, what is it about Hillary Clinton that you don't like?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hillary Clinton, she attacks him for plagiarism, which plagiarism when you have permission from somebody who's supporting you is ridiculous. And when people write all of their speeches, what's the point? But what she did -- what she did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "From my good friend, the governor" or "My friend the governor said." That's all you got to do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When she asked about an attack that she made on him, she didn't address the attack. She talked about Bush. She turned the attack about Bush.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the same way he turns things around.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The same author of the speeches, the two men are friends. They discussed how do you handle this question? The gentleman who said it first was in agreement and said use it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... Obama is so important, too, in not -- not acknowledging his friend's writing the speech in the first place.

LUNTZ: Alan -- Alan, this is the first time that we've done this where there's been this type of contention. You saw that all the way through the Republican debates. This is the first time that we've seen it in the Democratic debate. And I think it's because the tensions are so great between the two sides.

By the way, how many of you like -- one second. How many of you do still like both candidates? Raise your hands. Take a look at this. Even with the contention -- I don't want to mislead people -- Hillary Clinton people still like Barack Obama and vice versa. But there is definite tensions here.

COLMES: Well, that actually plays into what I was going to ask you, because in the last segment you mentioned that they pretty much agree on the issues, at least as presented tonight in this debate, and that's how it was perceived by your focus groups. And since, on the issues, they seem pretty much in concurrence, what will be -- how will they decide their vote if the issue's even out?

LUNTZ: So if you all agree on the issues, how do you decide -- Linda, how do you decide who you vote for if you disagree -- if you agree with both candidates on the issues?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I'd go for experience. And I think Hillary Clinton has the experience that we need.

LUNTZ: How do you decide?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do I decide?

LUNTZ: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Actually, I'm at the point where right now I was leaning towards Obama, but as I'm leaving here today, I don't know right now.

LUNTZ: How do you decide?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You just keep watching the ads. You watch the debates. You read up on it. You just keep up on it. It's the most exciting...

LUNTZ: What's the attribute that you're looking for? Which is more important.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Electability. Electability. We have got to bring our country back to its former greatness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Electability is not what we want for a president. We want a president who can run our country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... our country to its former sense of greatness. We have lost so much in the last number of years. And we have got to reclaim our position.

LUNTZ: Final vote, which is more important to you, change, electability, or experience? Who says experience?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Experience.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Experience.

LUNTZ: Who says change?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Change.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Change.

LUNTZ: Who says electability? There you go. It's going to be a battle of experience versus change. Back to you.

COLMES: Thanks so much for being with us. Great to have those focus groups on "Hannity & Colmes."

About Us | Contact | Advertise | Privacy Policy         © RealClearPolitics 2008