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2016 Presidential Election Date:November 8, 2016

Candidates Winner:Donald Trump (R) Hillary Clinton (D) •Jill Stein (G) •Gary Johnson (L) •Vice presidential candidates

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This article analyzes the central themes of theDemocratic presidential debate held on January 17, 2016, inCharleston, South Carolina. The transcript prepared byThe 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 theABC 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 andAndrea 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]

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 andBernie Sanders each participated in 17 discussion segments, whileMartin 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 fromPolitico, 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 byPolitico. O'Malley not only spoke significantly quicker than both Clinton and Sanders in this debate, but he also surpassed his own ratein 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 moderatorLester 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 inThe 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

Word cloud of Hillary Clinton's speech during the debate

Candidate:Hillary Clinton Speaking time: 27.6 minutes Number of words: 4,246 Most commonly used words: People: 27 Well: 22 Work: 21 More: 21 Know: 20

Word cloud of Martin O'Malley's speech during the debate

Candidate:Martin O'Malley Speaking time: 14 minutes Number of words: 2,894 Most commonly used words: Need: 28 Year: 18 People: 18 Thing: 18 Make: 13

Word cloud of Bernie Sanders' speech during the debate

Candidate:Bernie Sanders Speaking time: 28.1 minutes Number of words: 4,457 Most commonly used words: People: 43 Country: 29 Secretary: 27 American: 21 Very: 21

See also

• Presidential candidates, 2016
• Presidential election, 2016/Polls
• 2016 presidential candidate ratings and scorecards
• Presidential election, 2016/Straw polls

Footnotes

v • e 2016 United States Presidential Election Overviews 2016 presidential election •2016 presidential candidates •2016 presidential nominations: calendar and delegate rules •2016 vice presidential candidates •Possible vice presidential picks Candidate profiles Hillary Clinton Donald Trump Jill Stein Gary Johnson Path to the presidency Republican Convention •Republican Primary Democratic Convention •Democratic Primary Policy positions Abortion •Defunding Planned Parenthood •Agricultural subsidies •Black Lives Matter movement •Budgets •Education •Energy and environmental policy •Federal assistance programs •Federalism •Foreign affairs •LGBTQ rights •Government regulations •Healthcare •Immigration •DACA and DAPA •International trade •Rural policy •Taxes On the campaign trail Ballotpedia's battleground poll • Campaign preparations • Political and leadership attributes •Presidential campaign trackers and opposition researchers Campaign staff Presidential campaign staff transfers, resignations and terminations •Staff leaks from 2016 presidential campaigns Clinton staffers •O'Malley staffers •Sanders staffers Bush staffers •Carson staffers •Christie staffers •Cruz staffers •Fiorina staffers •Huckabee staffers •Kasich staffers •Paul staffers •Rubio staffers •Santorum staffers •Trump staffers Debates PBS, February 11, 2016 (Milwaukee) •PBS, February 4, 2016 (Durham, N.H.) •NBC News, January 17, 2016 (Charleston, S.C.) •ABC, December 19, 2015 (Manchester, N.H.) •CBS, November 14, 2015 (Des Moines) •CNN, October 13, 2015](Las Vegas) February 13, 2016 (Greenville, S.C.) •ABC, February 6, 2016 (Manchester, N.H.) •Fox News, January 28, 2016 (Des Moines) •Fox Business, January 14, 2016 (North Charleston, S.C.) •CNN, December 15, 2015 (Las Vegas) •Fox Business, November 10, 2015 (Milwaukee) •CNBC, October 28, 2015 (Boulder) •CNN, September 16, 2015 (Reagan Library) •Fox News, August 6, 2015 (Cleveland) Analysis The media's coverage of Donald Trump •The media's coverage of Hillary Clinton Post-debate analysis overview Democratic:April 14, 2016 (CNN) •March 9, 2016 (Univision) •March 6, 2016 (CNN) •February 11, 2016 (PBS) •February 4, 2016 (MSNBC) •January 17, 2016 (NBC) •December 19, 2015 (ABC) •November 14, 2015 (CBS) •October 13, 2015 (CNN) Republican:March 10, 2016 (CNN) •March 3, 2016 (FNC) •February 25, 2016 (CNN) •February 13, 2016 (CBS) •February 6, 2016 (ABC) •January 28, 2016 (FNC) •January 14, 2016 (FBN) •December 15, 2015 (CNN) •November 10, 2015 (FBN) •October 28, 2015 (CNBC) •September 16, 2015 (CNN) Insiders Poll: First Democratic debate (October 13, 2015) •Presidential Nominating Index: Clinton remains choice of Democratic Insiders •Presidential Nominating Index: Bush remains choice of Republican Insiders •Insiders Poll: Winners and losers from the Fox News Republican Debate