Bernie Sanders Wins Focus Groups And Social Media, But Hillary Clinton Wins Post Debate Polls

Focus groups, social media and search data suggest a Bernie Sanders debate win, but a new HuffPost/YouGov poll tells a very different story. Democratic Party activists are taking Sanders more seriously but still stand by Clinton, while GOP activists are warming to outsiders. And we preview the polling on next week's elections in Canada. This is HuffPollster for Friday, October 16, 2015

DEMOCRATIC VOTERS GIVE CLINTON DEBATE WIN - HuffPollster: "Tuesday's Democratic presidential debate on CNN did what debates usually do, according to a new HuffPost/YouGov poll. It allowed the two leading candidates to make a positive impression on an audience of millions. More critically, however, the debate allowed front-runner Hillary Clinton to boost her standing among a far bigger base of support, making her the clear winner in the eyes of most Democratic voters. A 55 percent majority of registered Democratic voters who watched the debate said Clinton won. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who saw a surge in online interest and fundraising, was a distant second, with only 22 percent saying he was the best of the night. Clinton also saw an uptick in the proportion of Democrats who say they want her to be the party's presidential nominee. Before the debate, 44 percent of registered Democrats said they wanted Clinton to be the nominee. After the debate, the figure had risen to 52 percent." [HuffPost]

Clinton's bigger base the key, but Sanders also benefited - More HuffPollster: "Democrats tended to think their favored candidate prevailed Tuesday night. Among those who want Clinton to be the nominee, 82 percent thought she was the winner. Only 15 percent of those who prefer someone else said Clinton won, while 61 percent of those people judged Sanders the winner. The poll also shows that both Clinton and Sanders made good impressions on Democratic voters -- 52 percent said their view of Clinton improved, and 42 percent said the same of Sanders. The difference between candidates disappears if Democratic-leaning independents are included with Democratic voters. Among this larger group, 46 percent say their opinion of each candidate improved."


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/post-democratic-debate-poll-clinton-wins_5620e1dbe4b06462a13b948b