They Both Won
Of course nobody won anything on Tuesday night. It is a semantic stretch to call these multi-candidate joint appearances a "debate" in the first place. No amount of "science" can conjure up a poll question and outreach method that will tell you who "won" because there was nothing to win.
Far more realistic and infinitely more enlightening is a more detached analysis of what the various candidates did to improve or diminish their chances to win the Democratic nomination.
First, Hillary R. Clinton.
Polling was moving away from her. Her campaign had no energy or enthusiasm. It is inherently off putting to be running on the argument that although you may like somebody else better, vote for me because I can win. That eventually won the nomination for Mitt Romney in 2012, and many of the professional talking heads keep insisting that is what will happen with the Democrats this go-around. Maybe so, but not what Hillary wants.
Her track record in elections is not very good. She was the target of opportunity for Newt Gingrich in 1994 when the GOP finally killed off the last vestiges of the New Deal governing coalition. She lost to Barack Obama in 2008 without distinguishing herself very well at all.
She needed a performance that told her backers that there she really is a good candidate and not just another Bob Dole or Mitt Romney running for the Presidency because it is Her Turn. She also needed to show the political world that she could step up her game. Most of all, she needed to project a Presidential attitude what is ALSO likeable.
She succeeded beyond reasonable expectations in meeting those goals. That is what all the braying jackasses are reacting to with their hyperbolic declarations of her "winning."
Second, Bernie Sanders.
He has three weaknesses that he needed to shore up in his first Debate.
First, most people don't know him. He needed to do the same thing that Hillary needed to do -- present a Presidential attitude that is likeable.
Second, he has to make sure that the S word does not blow up in his face. In point of fact, his "socialism" is not anything more radical than the Eisenhower Administration, but he absolutely must avoid sounding like a crackpot. He has been handling this beautifully on the campaign trail, and he needed to make sure that this opportunity for a first impression to millions of people was positive and on message.
Third, he has to overcome the hostility of the Pundits on Mainstream Media. Not win them over, which is impossible, but to overcome it.
On all three counts Sanders achieved success beyond any reasonable expectation. In addition, something he could not control broke his way. He dominated the text of the discussion as Hillary is sliding to the left. This is a strategic victory for Sanders of incalculable proportions, as it trumps the assumption that he can't win with his left wing crap.
The answer from the Sanders campaign is, "This ain't left wing crap. It is the majority point of view." Hillary may go back to it later, but as of last night, the "story" form the MSM is that Hillary performed well -- not that she barbecued Bernie the Socialist. And the performance included a long laundry list of Liberal Goodies that she supports, too, just with quibbles about the details that nobody but wonks give a flying fuck about. Sanders went into this national TV appearance as an Unknown. He comes out of it better Known -- and definitely a contender.
We have a race.