Instant debate polling tool tracks impact of responses on candidate preference in real-time

FLEMINGTON, N.J., April 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A new method for tracking real-time response to debates, DebateRate, a joint project of KDG with offices in Washington D.C. and Allentown, PA, and HCD Research of Flemington, NJ, was tested during the Democratic primary debate on April 14.  

DebateRate recorded voter response as the debate progressed from a national pool of voters identified by candidate preference prior to the beginning of the debate.  The Fall debates will use a national panel of 10,000 voters reporting in real-time.

After candidates both responded to a prompt, a question was "pushed" to the national panel asking them to respond to a question related to the exchange. The participants then responded through the DebateRate app. Data is collected which allows viewers to see the results of the process in real time providing a quantitative answer to which candidate is having the greatest impact.

Current polling reports perceptions of who won a debate.  In contrast to this, DebateRate answers the question "what issues contributed to the perception of who won and lost".

Some of the real-time conclusions determined are:

• The majority of Sanders supporters do not think that he can pay for all of his proposed policies.
• Clinton supporters are split, almost dead even, on if they believe she is better for foreign relations than her opponent.  
• 62% of respondents did not think that the term "superpredator" was racist.

KDG and HCD are partnering with a major university to provide this service during the Fall campaign.  

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SOURCE HCD Research