A Data Analysis of the November Democratic Debate

Can We Learn Anything from Debate Data?

The thing that bothers me most about political commentary is the lack of objectivity. After every Democratic debate, pundits on social and traditional media offer their biased takes on who “won” the contest. Writers put forward subjective experiences of the candidates, readers search for confirmation of their prior opinions, and no one learns anything.

While I am no less conflicted than other authors, I have tried to analyze past debates from a data analysis perspective. I’m interested in seeing whether any kind of objective reality can be parsed from these performances. With this view in mind, I’ve taken a look at the transcript from the November Democratic debate to see what stands out as objectively true.

Which Candidate Got the Most Words in?

Political supporters have often accused debate moderators of favoritism. While this can be hard to prove, it is an objective fact that some candidates are favored is terms of speaking time. As with the last debate, Elizabeth Warren got the most time to talk, indicating that she is considered the frontrunner by moderators.

Interestingly, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, and Amy Klobuchar also got significant speaking time. This…