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Topics and participation in the NBC Democratic debate (January 2016)
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 Date: November 8, 2016 |
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This article analyzes the central themes of the Democratic presidential debate held on January 17, 2016, in Charleston, South Carolina. The transcript prepared by The Washington Post was used to measure candidate participation and audience engagement.[1] Footage from the debate was consulted where there were ambiguities in the text.
To compare the statistics of this debate to those of the previous Democratic debate, see the analysis of the ABC Democratic debate in December 2015.
Segments
The fourth Democratic presidential debate featured 20 unique discussion segments covering domestic, economic and foreign policy. These discussion segments were measured by any shift in the theme of a discussion prompted by one of the moderators: Lester Holt and Andrea Mitchell. The candidates also fielded several questions from YouTubers.
"Our purpose here tonight is to highlight and examine the differences among the three Democratic candidates," Holt said at the start of the debate.[2]
- Opening statements
- First 100 days
- Gun control and gun manufacturers' liability
- Police and criminal justice reform
- Heroin epidemic
- Healthcare
- Uniting the country and bipartisanship
- Youth vote
- Banking policy and campaign finance reform
- Funding federal programs
- Tax reform
- Climate change
- U.S.-Iran relations
- Ground strategy against ISIS
- Obama administration's foreign policy
- U.S.-Russia relations
- Privacy, technology and national security
- "Lone wolf" terrorism
- Bill Clinton
- Closing statements
Overall participation
Participation in a discussion segment was defined as a substantive comment related to the discussion segment's topic. Jokes and attempts to gain permission from a moderator to speak were not considered participatory speech acts. In some instances, candidates who participated in a discussion segment diverted from the prompted topic.
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders each participated in 17 discussion segments, while Martin O'Malley joined 14 discussion segments.
Candidate participation by behavior
Participation in the debate was also measured by the candidate's behavior at the start of each discussion segment. This study considered whether a candidate was initially prompted by a moderator to speak during a discussion segment or whether he or she independently engaged in the discussion segment by interrupting another candidate or calling on the moderator for permission to speak. A candidate's conduct after they joined a discussion segment was not considered.
Clinton and Sanders principally engaged in discussion segments after prompting from a moderator. In contrast, more than half of O'Malley's participation was the result of him interjecting himself into the debate.
Candidate participation by speaking time
According to speaking time estimates from Politico, Clinton and Sanders each spoke for approximately 28 minutes.[3] O'Malley spoke for only 14 minutes, registering half the amount of time Clinton and Sanders had.
Candidate participation by speaking rate
Each candidate's speaking rate was calculated by dividing the total word count of the candidate's speech during the debate with his speaking time as measured by Politico. O'Malley not only spoke significantly quicker than both Clinton and Sanders in this debate, but he also surpassed his own rate in the previous Democratic debate by 51 words per minute.
Candidate participation by segment vs. speaking time
The amount of time a candidate spoke did not necessarily align with the number of issues he or she covered during the debate. Clinton and Sanders were nearly equally matched in both speaking time and number of discussion segments.
Candidate participation by speaking order
This study also calculated the number of times a candidate spoke first, second, or third during a discussion segment, whether prompted by a moderator with a question or invitation to rebut or by interjection.
Clinton and Sanders were each asked to speak first nine times. O'Malley, however, was asked to speak first only twice. When moderator Lester Holt called on O'Malley to deliver his closing statement before the other two candidates, he acknowledged this disparity, saying, "Didn't see that coming, did you?"[1]
Audience engagement
Audience engagement was measured by noting applause, cheering, or laughter in The Washington Post's transcript. Footage from the debate was consulted when the text was ambiguous about to whom the audience was responding.
With 33 separate instances of applause and laughter, Sanders received the most vocal response from the crowd. Among all three candidates, the discussion segments on domestic issues, like police and criminal justice reform, healthcare, and banking policy, garnered the strongest live audience response.
Candidate speech analysis
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See also
- Presidential candidates, 2016
- Presidential election, 2016/Polls
- 2016 presidential candidate ratings and scorecards
- Presidential election, 2016/Straw polls
Footnotes
