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Flemington, NJ, October 29, 2008 – According to the results of a new national study among 306 self-reported Democrats, Republicans and Independents revealed that the strength of support among Independents increased for Barack Obama and decreased for McCain after viewing new McCain Ad.

The study was conducted by HCD Research and the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion (MCIPO) during October 28, to obtain Americans’ perceptions of a new ad by John McCain, which briefly compares the two candidates’ economic policies.

The ad earned John McCain a Political Communications Impact Score (PCIS) of 12.0 and Barack Obama received a score of 2.7, resulting in a net score of 9.3 for John McCain. The scores can be compared to a mean score of 7.4 for previously tested McCain ads and 8.8 for previously tested Obama ads.  To date, the total mean score for all previously tested ads is 8.1.

The PCIS is a metric scoring system designed to gauge the effectiveness of political communications by generating a score for each candidate to monitor changes in voter perceptions. The PCIS score is derived from the change in voters’ support and the extent that the support shifts.  To view scores and results of recent studies go to: http://www.mediacurves.com/PCIS/

Among the findings:

Among Independents who intend to vote for Barack Obama, the intensity of their support for Obama increased slightly.  Conversely, while the number of Independents who intend to vote for McCain increased, the strength of that support decreased slightly.

Emotions Most Felt Among All Parties While Viewing the Ad

• Among political parties, the emotions most felt by Republicans while watching the ad were “inspiration” (35%) and “pride” (32%), compared to Democrats, who reported “skepticism” (48%) and “disturbing” (11%) as the emotions most felt. Independents reported “skepticism” (43%) and “inspiration” (20%) as the emotions most felt while watching the ad.

While viewing the video, participants indicated their levels of believability 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. The participants’ emotions were measured using the Ayer Emotion Battery. Participants were also asked pre- and post-viewing questions. To view believability curves and detailed results go to: www.mediacurves.com.

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 or 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).