Debate to sway undecided votes?

GREEN BAY - In a University of Wisconsin-Green Bay room of mostly decided voters, Carlos Gonzalez watches the presidential debate with his vote still up for grabs.

“Let's see what they can say, but it's also better acting than saying,” said Gonzalez.

“The number of undecided voters is shrinking and shrinking,” said Charley Jacobs, a political science professor at St. Norbert College. “These kind of events are open for those individuals who just really haven't made up their mind yet and they're looking for something.”

Marquette Law School asked just more than a thousand Wisconsin registered voters if the debate's results would sway their vote. Two percent said it was very likely, 10 percent said somewhat likely, 22 percent not very likely and two-thirds said not at all likely.

“You can gain from these, but most of the data that we have suggests that these debates have not impacted the outcome of an election, not this as a single variable,” said Jacobs.

The Marquette poll also showed Obama continues to maintain a lead in the state, 53 percent to 42 percent. Its margin of error is 3.3 percent. In mid-September, Marquette's poll had the margin at 54 percent to 40 percent.

As for Gonzalez, his vote will be the first he casts in a presidential election.

“It's kind of great because now you have a voice to represent one side or the other,” said Gonzalez.

Along with the rest of America, Gonzalez has until Election Day on Nov. 6 to make his final decision.