Politics

A Ray of Hope

Why today was a good day for Mitt Romney.

Every day until the election, Slate will offer up one reason to be optimistic for your candidate.

33 days to go:

Today’s Good News for Romney: Last night’s debate was just what Romney needed. A full 67 percent of voters said Romney won, while only 25 percent said Obama did. That’s not just a win, it’s a landslide. CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said, “No presidential candidate has topped 60 percent in that question since it was first asked in 1984.” Indeed, in the first debate of 2008, Obama only bested John McCain 40 percent to 26 percent. In 2004, John Kerry beat George W. Bush 53 percent to 37 percent.

So what does that mean for the race? We’ll know more when we get the results of the swing state polls currently in progress. But investors in the prediction market InTrade have already had their say: Romney’s stock rose more than 7 points yesterday. Romney needed a very good day, and he got it.

See Mitt Romney’s earlier rays of hope.

See Barack Obama’s earlier rays of hope.