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Flemington, NJ, January 22, 2008 – A new national focus group among 300 self-reported Democrats indicated that the majority (59%) believed that Senator Hillary Clinton expressed the clearest views on health care policies during last night’s debate.

The communications research study was conducted today by HCD Research and the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion to obtain Americans’ perceptions of candidates after viewing segments from the Democratic debate last night. 

While viewing video segments of the debate regarding health care reform, participants indicated their levels of agreement by moving their mouse from left to right on a continuum. The responses were recorded in quarter-second intervals and reported in the form of curves. Participants were asked pre- and post-viewing questions regarding their opinions of the candidates. To view detailed results and agreement curves, go to: www.mediacurves.com

Among the study findings:

• After viewing the segments on health care reform, the majority of voters (59%) reported that Senator Clinton expressed the clearest views on her health care policies, compared to 28% indicating the Senator Obama expressed the clearest views and 13% reporting that John Edwards expressed the clearest views.

If the Democratic primary for the 2008 presidential candidate was held today, among the following candidates, who would you vote for?

“Our objective for the study was to distill the candidates’ responses regarding health care issues, eliminating accusations and non-issue rhetoric,” explained Glenn Kessler, president and CEO, HCD Research. “This debate was very contentious with the issues sometimes getting lost in the posturing. We were able to measure the response to their specific issue statements to determine which of the candidates’ stances on the issue were most valued by Democrats.”

The Media Curves web site provides the media and general public with a venue to view Americans’ perceptions of popular and controversial media events and advertisements.

Editors/Reporters: For more information on the study, or to speak with Glenn Kessler, president and CEO, HCD Research; Chris Borick, Ph.D., director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, please contact Vince McGourty, HCD Research, at (908) 483-9121 or (vince.mcgourty@hcdi.net).

HCD Research is a communications research company headquartered in Flemington, NJ.  The company's services include traditional and web-based marketing and communications research.  For additional information on HCD Research, access the company’s web site at www.hcdi.net or call HCD Research at 908-788-9393.  Headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania, MCIPO is a respected source of public opinion data on local, state and national issues.