While the news outlets may say that Clinton was the the actual winner of the debates, when you look to social media outlets, they tell a different story. Bernie Sanders was the most talked about candidate during this time, and when online surveys were conducted to see who they felt had won, Sanders won 82% of the vote.
Both Clinton and Sanders had a great debate. Clinton needed to demonstrate her ability within the Democratic Party, specifically that the party does not need Biden to come sweeping in to save them from her candidacy. As the only woman on the stage she argued forcefully for equal pay, paid family leave, and reproductive rights. She also was able to succinctly summarize her campaign pitch when she responded to Anderson Cooper´s hard hitting question about her tendency to flip-flop, ¨I'm a progressive, but a progressive who likes to get things done.¨ Although later on when asked about the Keystone Pipeline, she had a slight stumble when explaining her position on the issue stating, ¨I never took a position on the Keystone until I took a position on Keystone.¨ Overall she came across as a more moderate choice to Sanders far-left feelings on policy issues. This is likely what prompted the news outlets to give the win to Hillary - she had the most to lose and was able to solidify her stance within her party.
Sanders on the other hand started out debate by addressing many people's main concern with his candidacy: the fact that he declares himself a democratic socialist. In his explanation he was able to clearly pinpoint his anger at the immense economic inequality within the nation as well as the power that the few wealthy have over those in a worse of position - the main reasoning behind his position. Although when asked if he was a capitalist or not, Bernie did not directly answer (in doing so he may have alienated many voters who feel capitalism is intrinsic to the American way of life), but instead chose to go back to his main issues of wealth inequality and Wall Street's ´reckless behavior´. Furthermore Sanders lived up to expectations when he spoke little about himself and more about policy matters. This was highlighted when he came to Hillary´s aid when saying, ¨The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn e-mails… Let´s talk about the real issues facing America.¨ Like Clinton, Sanders was given a lot of air time to discuss his stance on numerous issues, like the expansion of Social Security, Black Lives Matter, and his ideas for free college. Although when the questions started to shift towards gun control, his answers seemed to make him look like who he claims he's not: a work day politician who looks for compromises to keep his base. This provided an opening for O'Malley to jump and point out how he could protect hunters and sports gunmen while still passing stronger gun regulations. Additionally he struggled when discussing foreign policy, specifically in regards to Putin, whom he felt would end up regretting his decisions and change tune, a point Anderson Cooper even questioned. Overall though many people agreed with Sander´s points and were actively talking about (and looking up) him online.
Regardless, both candidates showed well in the debate. But their answers helped to clarify their different perspectives, specifically how they view how change is going to come about. ¨Sander´s is: It´s going to take a movement. Clinton´s: It´s going to take a President.¨
Who do you think won the Democratic debate? Are the news outlets or social media right?
How is going to impact the race?
Are the news outlets or social media more in-tune with the voters? Is either an accurate representation of the way Americans feel?
Sources:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/10/13/the-candidate-breaking-through-in-the-democratic-debate-bernie-sanders/
6 comments:
After watching the debate, I believe that Clinton had stronger responses to some of the questions, especially those concerning gun control and foreign policy. Although the people may be more inclined to agree with Sanders, the actual debate was a firmer showing for Clinton. As a speaker, I see Sanders as lacking some of the standard manners and formal etiquette, as well as having a tendency to speak louder rather than addressing the problems. That being said, since so many democrats are beginning to side with Sanders it is hard to say whether this will have much affect on the race. Both candidates proved formidable opponents that offered clear opinions on numerous issues that the country faces and in the end this is only the first of six debates and will likely have minimal impact on the race. Social media is more in tune with the wants of the people and which candidate they support the most; however, the news outlets have more experience with presidential debates and expertise on which candidate had the best showing in the debate. Both sources are biased and, again, it is only the first debate. So early in the candidacies of these two politicians it is hard to say how the people feel. Sanders aversion to the question on capitalism was a risky choice, especially as that is the basis for much of the American economy. As the primaries continue more debates will prove which candidate is a stronger speaker and how the American people truly feel.
I agree with Gwen above; Hillary won the democratic debate. In essence her preparation truly won the debate. She handled questions professionally and had solid answers for the majority of them. She, being the most well-known and controversial Democratic candidate, had the most to lose. However instead of buckling under the pressure she was able to establish a solid footing at the debate. Hillary had concise and clear answers on multiple topics including her emails, her record regarding Iraq, and on trade and entitlements. I don’t think that the news outlets or social media can necessarily be right. While I agree with the news outlets, I think the main reason that social media is calling Bernie Sanders the winner is because he is not as well known as Hillary and thus more people are going to be researching him. Although I do think he had the line of the night with,“Enough of the damn emails, let’s talk about the real issues facing America,” overall he was not as polished as Hillary. Hillary did support many of Bernie’s ideas (definitely not gun control) she was able to approach them in a stronger manner. Bernie tended to yell which may be another reason why he is favored on social media. I think that this debate is definitely going to impact the race because it was the first time the American people have really heard from the Democratic side. This debate put the Republican debate/circus in perspective for many people. The social media is directly linked to the public, thus they are more intune with voters. However I don’t think they are necessary as in tune with what the voters want than to what sparks their interest; just because you google someone, doesn't mean you agree with them....often it is quite the opposite.
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/14/who-won-the-first-democratic-debate.html
The media always scurries to announce a winner and loser after a debate, yet what if this is not the case? With the media and political experts saying Hilary Clinton won the debate, and polls and focus groups saying Bernie is the clear victor, there is no clear winner. They both successfully captivated their audiences and left a lasting impact on the voters, and the impact that they have on the voter is what defines winning and losing a debate. Based on online polls and focus groups, Bernie Sanders did indeed win the debate. He captivated the voters and said what they wanted to hear. Bernie Sanders also gained more followers on social media than all of the other candidates combined. This shows how big of an impact this debate will have on his political career. More people are now following him, which means that more people will be the listening to his policies. Sanders won the CNN focus group, the Fusion focus group, and the Fox News focus group, the Slate online poll, CNN/Time online poll, 9News Colorado, The Street online poll, Fox5 poll, the conservative Drudge online poll and the liberal Daily Kos online poll. He won all of these by at least an 18 point margin. However, many still believe Hilary was the winner. Basically everyones opinion is differing, yet it truly does not matter who "won" this debate. As time goes on we the voters will decide who the stronger candidate in fact is.
I agree with Katie that time will be the most important factor in deciding public opinion. Both candidates were very strong in very different ways. Social media hailed Bernie as the victor, but Hilary won over political media. This, however, is not the only debate that the Democrats will have. Not to mention, it's 2015 right now. The primaries are in 2016. The entire democratic field could change in the next few months. While Hilary did have the most to lose during this debate, she might be on stronger footing and thus not have so much to prove next time. Bernie's underdog flare could lose its luster or his tell-it-like-it-is attitude could cause a snowball of support. Candidates have a lot of time to slip up and a lot of time to prove themselves, so declaring a winner is probably not the most important thing right now. Rather, we should focus on what the hopefuls have to say.
While Sanders may have been leading in 82% of the polls following the debate, this may not be an accurate indication of how well he will do in the election. After all, most people responding in these polls were strongly opinionated on the subject. Polls, in their very essence, are voluntary response samples; it is primarily people who have firm beliefs who are willing to take the time to comment. As important as the social media majority is in these pivotal times for the election, the political world is what really has a say at the end of the day. That said, I believe that Senator Sanders did a great job of proposing and furthering his positions on potential policy and reform. Hillary was great as well. According to The New Yorker, "The main reason that... Clinton emerged as the winner: she gave her campaign a huge and much-needed boost" (Cassidy). Still, both candidates are very charismatic speakers, which is likely a major reason why there is so much speculation about who really "won" the debate. However, at the end of the day, the object of the debate is to express realistic plans for America-- plans that, unfortunately, Bernie Sanders does not seem to have a firm grasp of. I think that, if attainable, his approach to reducing and eliminating tuition fees for public universities in America would be fantastic. However, his method of "taxing Wall Street" does not seem like a reasonable plan. I anticipate seeing great growth for Senator Sanders as his campaign continues. He is loaded with potential; his problem lies in that he needs to organize his thoughts and come down to earth. His current pie in the sky ideas will not win over the moderate vote, which he needs in order to win. It will take a lot of convincing to get the general majority to vote for a self-proclaimed socialist, after all.
Source: http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/did-the-media-get-the-democratic-debate-wrong
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/13/politics/democratic-debate-updates/
I think the matter of who "won" the debate will almost always be completely subjective. Both Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders had strong debates. That much is indisputable. The popular opinion is that Hilary won because she articulated her points well and communicated her stances on the various issues clearly. Bernie also had a strong showing. However, as the more left-oriented candidate of the two, that was the best Bernie could do to avoid alienating many Americans with his somewhat radical views on capitalism and the economy. The best Hilary could do, with her current position as the Democratic front runner, was to simply do well and not falter in her responses. Hilary accomplished this and was crowned the victor by the media. The media was not so enthused by Bernie, however, he had a remarkably strong reception on social media and in online polls. There is more buzz about Bernie Sanders. One could argue that both candidates accomplished what they planned to achieve at the debate. Both candidates had victories in their respective efforts. Comparing the efforts of the two seems a little shortsighted when both had such strong debates.
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