Obama opened an even bigger gap on the question of empathy, with 51% of debate-watchers saying they believed he "cares about people like you," compared with 27% who said the same about McCain. A week ago, Obama had an 11-point lead on the question.
Obama also appears to have convinced more voters he could handle international affairs.
After the debate, 69% of registered voters said they were confident in Obama's ability to deal wisely with an international crisis, up eight points from a week earlier.
Even some McCain supporters seemed satisfied with Obama's performance.
"He gave better answers than I would have expected," said Lloyd Grames, 80, of San Mateo, Calif. "If Obama should win, I would be a bit more comfortable with him. He really made me nervous before."
Confidence in McCain's ability to deal with an international crisis remained about the same, with 76% saying they were confident in him, down three points from a week ago.
McCain has also lost ground on the issue of Iraq, despite growing sentiment that the troop buildup he championed had succeeded in helping curb the violence. He now has a 13-percentage-point edge over Obama on the question of who would best achieve success in Iraq, compared with a 17-percentage-point edge last week.
--
noam.levey@latimes.com
--
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
Before and after
The Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll interviewed registered voters before and after the first presidential debate between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama on Friday. Here is a look at how the views of voters who watched the debate were affected.
Q: Did Barack Obama's/John McCain's performance in the debate change your mind about whether or not he has the right experience to be president? If it did, are you more, or less, inclined to think he has the right experience?
Obama
Didn't change opinion: 81%
Less inclined: 9%
More inclined: 9%
Don't know: 1%
McCain
Didn't change opinion: 81%
Less inclined: 5%
More inclined: 11%
Don't know: 3%
Q: If the presidential election were being held today, for which presidential ticket would you vote?
Pre-debate
Barack Obama / Joe Biden: 48%
John McCain / Sarah Palin: 45%
Someone else: 1%
Don't know: 6%
Post-debate
Barack Obama / Joe Biden: 49%
John McCain / Sarah Palin: 44%
Someone else: 1%
