Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 01:49 pm
It’s official: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won the debate by a long shot according to Democratic primary voters surveyed by Public Policy Polling.
A Public Policy Polling survey of Democratic primary voters nationally revealed, “Viewers overwhelmingly think she won the debate, and particularly trust her over the rest of the Democratic field when it comes to issues of national security.” The PPP poll was conducted by the pro-Clinton Correct The Record super PAC, but a CBS News Poll found that Democratic voters thought Clinton won the debate over Sanders 51%-28%.)
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From the full poll, the take aways are:
-67% of voters think Clinton won the debate, to 20% for Bernie Sanders and 7% for Martin O’Malley. On a related note 63% of viewers said the debate gave them a more positive opinion of Clinton, compared to 41% who said it gave them a more positive opinion of Sanders, and 37% who said it gave them a more positive opinion of O’Malley.
The debate changed focus at the last minute due to the Paris attacks, and thus it focused heavily on national security and foreign policy. The former Secretary of State shone for much of the debate, as her answers left the other candidates in the dust in terms of depth of knowledge and expertise. Clinton is the candidate debate watchers trust the most on national security, with 75% saying they have the most trust in Clinton.
Seventeen percent trusted Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) the most, and 5% trusted former Gov. Martin O’Malley the most.
The pollsters pointed out that Clinton won across many different groups within the Democratic party, “86% of African Americans, 73% of women, 70% of moderates, 69% of seniors, 67% of Hispanics, 65% of liberals, 61% of white voters, 58% of men, and 50% of younger voters all think that Clinton was the winner of tonight’s debate.”
It wasn’t just PPP. In an Iowa focus group, Clinton won 23-10.
Iowa Focus Group: Among 33 undecided Iowans, HRC clearly wins debate by 23 to 10, and moves 11 undecided to her camp versus 3 for Sanders.
— Chris Kofinis (@ChrisKofinis) November 15, 2015
The beltway media wrongly predicted doom for Clinton because of her 9/11 Wall Street answer, which it’s true, didn’t poll well:
HRC won debate, but 9/11 Wall-Street answer should never be repeated. Did very poorly with Iowan undecideds. #DemDebate
— Chris Kofinis (@ChrisKofinis) November 15, 2015
But Clinton’s answer didn’t seem to hurt her with the voters.
Clinton wins based on electability:
Iowa Focus Group: HRC clearly wins debate. Very strong performance. Sanders message can't over electability issues with voters.
— Chris Kofinis (@ChrisKofinis) November 15, 2015
It was a great debate for all of the candidates, with a lot of back and forth on the issues. In the end, Democratic policies won because all of the candidates carried the message well. But Hillary Clinton is the winner in the public’s eye by a long shot. Clinton was masterful in her national security issues, but also throughout the debate. She has found herself and she is powerful. As Republican word master Frank Luntz said, “If GOP thinks Hillary is easily beatable, they’re wrong It’s not just words, but her tone & style are the best I’ve seen so far.”
Clinton had a great debate night and is reinforced her front-runner status but also managed to win over some new voters.
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