In N.J., only political junkies expected to watch debate between Obama and Romney

Analysts are not expecting Wednesday night’s debate between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney to make much of a difference for most New Jersey voters.

Polls show Obama with a double-digit lead over Romney in the Garden State.

Monmouth University political analyst Patrick Murray says the average New Jersey resident probably won’t pay much attention to the debate.

“The people in New Jersey who will be watching this debate are the same people who will be watching it nationwide, whether they’re in a competitive state or not, which are political junkies,” Murray says. “These are people who already know who they’re going to vote for and just want to tune in and see how well their candidate does or how poorly the other guy does.”

Montclair State political science professor Brigid Harrison says people might watch the debate anyway because it’s the first time they’ll get to compare the candidates.

“This political campaign has been years in the making, and I think that many people would be interested in the juxtaposition of Gov. Romney versus President Obama and just kind of comparing them side by side,” Harrison said.