Instant polls by several news websites showed Democratic Senator Edwards was the winner of Tuesday night's US vice presidential debate.

About one hour after the debate was over, the Democratic vice presidential nominee was regarded in an instant survey by CBSNEWS.com as the winner by 77 percent of respondents, while only 21 percent chose Vice President Dick Cheney as the winner.

A poll by MSNBC.com also found Edwards the winner, leading Cheney 69 percent to 31 percent.

A QuickVote by CNN.com showed Edwards was viewed as the winner by 78 percent of more than 13,000 voters, against 18 percent for Cheney, with 5 percent saying that the two were evenly matched.

Instant polls are not scientific and reflect the opinions of those Internet users who have chosen to participate, and the results cannot be assumed to represent the opinion of Internet user in general nor the public as a whole, according to CNN.com.

Edwards and Cheney met face to face in their only debate in Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, focusing much of their 90 minutes on Iraq.

With Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry widely regarded the winner of his first debate with President George W. Bush last Thursday, the vice presidential debate was considered bymany to have assumed special importance for both the campaigns.

Some polls after the presidential debate put Bush with a slightlead over Kerry, while others showed the race dead even.

Republicans hoped Cheney would deliver a solid showing to give the party a boost of confidence, while Democrats were banking on Edwards to continue the momentum with a strong performance.

Source: Xinhua