Vermont Sen. Bernard Sanders’ presidential campaign was raking in 3.2 contributions per second at the closing of Sunday night’s Democratic debate, with a total of $1 million raised from more than 36,000 contributions on Sunday alone.
“For the fourth debate in a row, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders was the clear winner, according to a focus group, Twitter,Facebook, Google searches, online polls and money raised,” his campaign said in a statement Monday morning.
According to a focus group of 30 undecided South Carolinians conducted by Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis, 27 of those voters felt that Mr. Sanders won Sunday night’s debate.
“Sanders wins SC in blowout,” Chris Kofinis of Park Street Strategies, tweeted. “He is connecting with many of the African American voters in this group.”
Mr. Sanders was also the most Googled name during the debate and top candidate discussed on Twitter and Facebook.
Mr. Sanders is closing the gap with front runner Hillary Clinton and is in a statistical dead heat with her in early primary states Iowa and New Hampshire. Mr. Sanders is looking to capitalize on his debate performance to help drive his momentum in these earlier contests as well as popularity nationally, where he still trails Mrs. Clinton by double-digits, according to most recent polling.
• Kelly Riddell can be reached at kriddell@washingtontimes.com.
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