- Home « Pre-Primary Period « Primary Debates and Forums « ABC News Democratic Presidential Debate
Primary Debates and Forums
Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015 in at St. Anselm College in Manchester, NH.
About | More Pre-Debate
L-R: Sanders, Clinton, O'Malley Screen grab from ABC News.
Saturday,
December
19,
2015
at
8:00 E.T.
Post-Debate
|
transcript
| video
Sponsors: ABC News.
Candidates: Hillary Clinton, Martin O'Malley, Bernie Sanders.
Moderators: ABC News “World News Tonight” Anchor David Muir and Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz.
Audience:
About
1,000.
Broadcast: http://abcnews.go.com/Live
Format:
Opening
statements.
Ninety
seconds
to
respond to questions; 45
seconds for follow ups and rebuttals. Closing statements.
Overview:
The
debate
occurred
on
the
Saturday
before
Christmas, a date seemingly not designed to attract
a large viewing office. It also on
the heels of the data breach kerfuffle (+), which
was the subject of the opening question; Bernie Sanders apologized to
Clinton and to his supporters. Subjects ranged from ISIS to gun
control, health care and education. Together the candidates
mentioned Donald Trump a dozen times. Clinton scored the most
Tweeted moment with her Star Wars
"May the force be with you" closing line. All the candidates
performed well; neither Sanders or O'Malley scored a breakout moment.
Despite the less than optimal timing of the debate, the DNC highlighted the fact that, "Saturday’s Democratic debate brought in 7.8 million viewers – the sixth-largest audience for a Democratic primary debate in history, and more than every single Republican primary debate in 2008 and 2012."