Various debate polls conclude that Senator Barack Obama benefited most from the first Presidential debate in the 2008 election. According to a poll conducted by CNN, 51% of those polled thought Obama did a better job compared to those who thought John McCain did betterCNN: Round 1 in Debates Goes to Obama, Poll Says (September 27, 2008) According to a poll by CBS, Obama won over uncommitted voters.CBS News: CBS Poll: Obama Boosted... (September 27, 2008)

MSNBC conducted a live poll asking, "Who won the presidential debate?" Out of the 771,461 responses, 51% said Obama and 35% said McCain. The participants who were undecided or said that it was a tie was 7.8% and 6.3% respectively.MSNBC: Who won the presidential debate? Live Vote

Political analysts and pundits have different opinions on "who won the debate."Telegraph (UK): Presidential debate verdict... (September 27, 2008)

"Yeah, he sure did. When you have a foreign policy debate where John McCain is thought in the voter's mind to have more experience than Obama, and he gets through the whole debate without making a misstatement, holding his own, and people at the end either believe that he's won the debate or it's a tie - that's a push for Barack Obama. And he clearly, clearly achieved that last night."CBS News: Rating the Debate: Did Either Win? (September 27, 2008)—Political analyst for CBS News, Joe Trippi, when asked if Obama won

"On the one hand I thought John McCain won on substance. When this got to national policy, foreign policy, national security going into this debate, Barack Obama's people said this was John McCain's turf. They were right, and John McCain showed that he was fluent, he was comfortable, and he was ready to take the reins on day one. But Barack Obama, he won by not losing. There were no major gaps. He looked like he could tackle these issues."'CBS News: Rating the Debate: Did Either Win? (September 27, 2008)—Political analyst Amy Holmes for CNN