Who won Democratic debate? Online stats point one way
Democratic presidential debate viewers who went online Sunday night seemed to put one candidate on top.
According to Google's fact sheet on the Sunday evening showdown, Bernie Sanders was the most-searched Democratic candidate on Google during the debate, which was carried by NBC News and on YouTube. And that happened in every single state, the search giant adds.
It was the rivals' last face-off before the Iowa caucuses in two weeks.
Also on Google, search interest in the NRA spiked over 500 percent during the debate. "Universal health care" saw a 400 percent leap. Search interest in "Black Lives Matter" skyrocketed more than 350 percent in the 24 hours that ended with the debate.
And search interest in ISIS jumped 150 percent during the session -- and the state with the second-most search queries on ISIS was Iowa.
Another interesting trend during the debate were the types of questions people were asking Google about each candidate. The top two questions about Clinton were: "Will Hillary Clinton get prosecuted?" and "Will Hillary Clinton get the nomination?" The top questions about Sanders were: "Why is Bernie Sanders so popular?" and "Can Bernie Sanders win?" For O'Malley, the leading questions were: "Why is Martin O'Malley running for president?" and "Martin O'Malley was Governor of which state?" (The answer is Maryland.)
Sanders also got good news from Twitter, where the candidate with soaring popularity among younger, online voters became apparent. He was the most mentioned candidate on Twitter, followed by Clinton, the front-runner in polls, and O'Malley came in last among the three, although not all Twitter news was bad for him.
Hit #DemDebate hashtag on Twitter just now. Wow! In four different @twitter polls, @BernieSanders won tonight. pic.twitter.com/w9z9gP0VWU
— Bill Kendrick (@billkendrick) January 18, 2016
Follower growth during the #DemDebate also had Sanders on top:
1. @BernieSanders 2. @MartinOMalley 3. @HillaryClinton
When Republican presidential hopefuls were included, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz made their presence felt in terms of followers gained:
1. @BernieSanders 2. @RealDonaldTrump 3. @MartinOMalley 4. @HillaryClinton 5. @TedCruz
As for the most tweeted #DemDebate moments, there was the Sanders-Clinton back-and-forth on Wall Street, then Sanders saying "Climate change is real," followed by the discussion about engaging young people in the election.
And the most re-tweeted #DemDebate tweets were Sanders-heavy:
bernie with the WHOSE MAN IS THIS https://t.co/rRLcdM4RnF
— Desus Nice (@desusnice) January 18, 2016
Where do the candidates get their money? #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/mlazemqWN2
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 18, 2016
I find it strange that the kid who smokes marijuana gets arrested but the crooks on Wall Street get off scot free. #DemDebate
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 18, 2016
"Secretary Clinton, why is Sanders beating you 2 to 1 amongst younger voters?"
Hilary: uhhhhhhhhhhhh *dabs* how bout now?
— Nathan Zelalem (@NathanZed) January 18, 2016
Polls confirm: Bernie is the best Democratic candidate to take on Republicans in the general election. #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/ni6T1PsnPT
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 18, 2016
The top-tweeted topics during the #DemDebate:
1. Healthcare 2. Foreign Affairs 3. Energy and Environment 4. Economy 5. National Security
The story was much the same on Facebook, where the most-discussed candidates during the debate were, in order, Sanders, Clinton and O'Malley.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the most-engaged states on Facebook were Sen. Sanders's home state of Vermont, followed by the early-voting state of New Hampshire, then Oregon, Iowa and Maryalnd, where O'Malley served as governor.
The most discussed issues on Facebook during the debate were Wall Street, Medicare, Benghazi, crime and criminal justice and climate change.