Now that we are so deep into the 2016 election, it’s hard to believe that a significant portion of the electorate still feels that they haven’t yet made up their minds concerning who to vote for. And yet, a new poll reveals that as many as half U.S. voters are planning to rely on the outcome of the presidential debates to cement their support for one candidate or another.
With both Trump and Clinton both virtually neck-and-neck, this new survey which shows that half of American voters are still waiting to see the results of the debates to make up their mind means that tonight’s showdown is more important than ever.
According to the survey conducted by Reuters/Ipsos and released on Monday, 50 percent said they plan to rely on the debates to help make up their mind about a candidate, with 10 percent of those 50 saying they aren’t leaning toward either candidate as of yet.
Meanwhile, 39 percent of voters said the debates wouldn’t have any affect on their vote.
The results of the survey reveal that not only is the debate portion of this election incredibly important, but that we can expect a great deal of polling movement in the coming months leading up to Election Day in November.
What will the debates tell those 10 percent of voters who right now, have absolutely no preference? And how malleable is the 40 percent who are leaning one way, but depend on the head-to-head to come to a conclusion?
Tonight’s debate begins at 9 Eastern and will be 90-minutes long, uninterrupted by commercial breaks. The debate will feature no applause or audience feedback, except at the very beginning and very end. The Debate commission has said that they do not agree with moderator Lester Holt fact-checking the debate in real-time, though that doesn’t stop the networks covering the event from doing their own truth work.
