Debate poll conducted by Google Consumer Surveys..... Sanders 49.2% Clinton 31.2
According to most pundits, journalists and political professionals, Hillary Clinton won the first Democratic presidential primary debate Tuesday night in a walk.
But as for the regular Americans who actually watched the debate? It was Sen. Bernie Sanders' night to shine.
According to a poll conducted by Google Consumer Surveys for Mic immediately following the debate in Las Vegas, 49.2% of people who watched the debate said the independent senator from Vermont had the best performance of the night. Clinton, whose performance was universally lauded by the political chattering class, was viewed as the debate's victor by less than a third of those watching:
Underestimating Sanders: Granted, consumer focus groups and online polls aren't as conclusive as their numbers might suggest, but the discrepancy between the pundit reaction and the public reaction is too strong to entirely ignore.
Many of the attributes that professional political operatives and reporters see as negatives for the Sanders campaign — his ardent socialism, his crankiness, his unpolished affect — are in fact part of his appeal. A candidate like Sanders doesn't fit the traditional paradigm of elections past, where debaters who were seen as too rough around the edges were seen more as curiosities than as serious candidates.
http://mic.com/articles/126749/viewers-of-the-first-democratic-debate-thought-bernie-sanders-was-the-clear-winner
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