Presidential Debates 2012: Who Won the Second Debate? Election Polls Show Obama as Clear Winner of Oct. 16 Debate

Voter polls showed considerable favor of President Obama after Tuesday night's second presidential debate.

A CNN/ORC International poll of 547 registered voters showed 46 percent said Obama won, as opposed to the 39 percent that said Romney won the town hall debate. That number is a far cry from the same poll taken the day after the first debate, which showed that, out of a sample of 430 adult Americans, 67 percent said Romney won and 25 percent said Obama won.

Before the Oct. 3 debate took place, voters predicted Obama would take the debate.

A Gallup poll, also taken Oct. 3, asked 1,387 registered voters who did better in the first debate. 72 percent named Romney, 20 percent said Obama and 8 percent said neither.

The same CNN/ORC poll asked if Obama did better or worse than expected. Seventy-three percent of voters said Obama did better, 16 percent said same and 10 percent said worse. When asked if Romney did better than expected, 37 percent said better, 33 percent said same and 28 percent said worse.

Although Romney fought back during every chance he had, specifically attacking Obama's record, the debate eased the minds of Obama supporters this time around. The Romney camp has taken note of the situation and initiated a last-minute television advertising push in key swing states.

Before the second debate took place, political analysts predicted a more aggressive Obama would be presented. They were right.

"This time, a forceful Obama defended his policies and challenged Romney on shifting positions on key issues while arguing his Republican rival's proposals would favor the wealthy if elected on November 6," read CNN's recent article Obama gets the edge of Romney in a bruising debate.

Obama took heed of the criticism he received for his blasé attitude and lack of force during his first debate.

HuffPo's George Lakoff said Obama violated "all the basics of presidential debating by not stating moral values, connecting, projecting empathy, being authentic, and presenting an authentic view of oneself that public can identify with.

Lakoff added that Obama didn't set "the terms of the debate," which he said one must do in order to win. And that he did this go-round.

Obama handled blows from Romney on Benghazi attacks, taxes and the economy.

Latinos Post also conducted its own unscientific poll and asked the online audience what their thoughts on the second debate were. The poll results are as follows: 4,103 people (46.03%) thought Obama won the debate while 4,002 people (44.9%) thought Romney won. 8,913 people voted by Thursday morning and although unscientific, the poll did and does not count repeat votes.

What are your thoughts?