Topics and participation in the CNN Democratic debate (April 2016)

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See also: CNN Brooklyn, New York, Democratic debate (April 14, 2016)



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This article analyzes the central themes of the ninth Democratic presidential debate held on April 14, 2016, in Brooklyn, New York. The transcripts prepared by The Washington Post and CNN were used to measure candidate participation and audience engagement.[1][2] 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 Univison debate held on March 9, 2016.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • Approximately one-third of the discussion segments related to Democratic Party politics, campaign contributions, and transparency.
  • The most frequently spoken word by Hillary Clinton was "president." In addition to invoking former President Bill Clinton and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, she mentioned President Barack Obama by name 18 times.
  • For the sixth consecutive debate, Bernie Sanders' most commonly spoken word was "people."

    • Segments

    Including opening and closing statements, this debate featured 20 unique discussion segments covering campaign finance, domestic policy, and foreign relations. These discussion segments were measured by any shift in the theme of a discussion prompted by one of the moderators: Wolf Blitzer, Dana Bash, and Errol Louis.

    1. Opening statements
    2. Candidates' qualifications and judgment
    3. Wall Street and banking policy
    4. Influence of contributions from Wall Street on Clinton's economic policy
    5. Disclosure of Clinton's private speeches to Goldman Sachs and Sanders' tax returns
    6. Corporate regulation and job creation
    7. Minimum wage
    8. Gun control and liability for gun manufacturers and sellers
    9. Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and criminal justice reform
    10. Climate change policy and campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry
    11. Fracking and energy production
    12. Regime change in Libya
    13. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
    14. Israeli-Palestinian conflict
    15. Cost of Sanders' education and healthcare programs
    16. Social Security and the taxable income cap
    17. Nomination of Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court
    18. Sanders' commitment to the Democratic Party
    19. Delegates and potential contested nominating convention
    20. Closing statements


    Participants

    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.

    Clinton and Sanders participated in every discussion segment.

    Candidate participation by speaking order

    This study also calculated the number of times a candidate spoke first or second during a discussion segment, whether prompted by a moderator with a question or invitation to rebut or by interjection.

    For the first time in a Democratic presidential debate, Clinton and Sanders were called on to participate in every discussion segment and were prompted to speak first an equal number of times.

    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.

    For the seventh consecutive debate, Sanders received the most positive reactions from the audience, registering 81 instances. The discussion segments on the candidates' qualifications and judgment, climate change policy, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict produced the most live audience engagement overall.

    The moderators also received cheers at several points for challenging the candidates—by, for example, calling on Sanders to provide one instance of where Clinton's policy was influenced by contributions from Wall Street and asking Clinton to explain why she had not released the transcripts of the speeches she gave to Goldman Sachs.

    Candidate analysis

    Word cloud of Hillary Clinton's speech during the debate
    Hillary-Clinton-circle.png
    • Candidate: Hillary Clinton
    • Number of words: 7,798
    • Most commonly used words:
      • President: 46
      • Senate: 43
      • People: 43
      • Support: 37
      • Think: 34
    Word cloud of Bernie Sanders' speech during the debate
    Bernie-Sanders-circle.png
    • Candidate: Bernie Sanders
    • Number of words: 6,162
    • Most commonly used words:
      • People: 43
      • Country: 39
      • Secretary: 38
      • Clinton: 33
      • Right: 32

    See also

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ The Washington Post, "The Brooklyn Democratic debate transcript, annotated," April 14, 2016
    2. ↑ CNN, "Full transcript: CNN Democratic debate," April 15, 2016
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