Google Searches During Democratic Debate Reflect Changing U.S. Attitude

"Who will become the next U.S. president" was not the most-searched question on google.com during the fourth televised Democratic debate that took place in Charleston, South Carolina, Sunday night. Search queries were not dominated by one particular question. Depending on the candidate, the tone took on a negative or positive stance, reflecting the sentiment of voters.

While questions about Hillary Clinton led among Democratic nominees in 12 states on google.com, Bernie Sanders took the remaining states. Broken down into counties across the country shows a speckled mess of inquisitive of potential voters.

Two of the top-searched questions on Google for Hillary Clinton were not about the themes her campaign hoped to highlight during the debate. The top trending question on Google about Hillary focused on "Will Hillary Clinton get prosecuted?" followed by "Will Hillary Clinton win the nomination?" and "What did Hillary Clinton do that is illegal?"

For Sanders, the top question demonstrates a more positive tone and a possibility that he could become the Democratic candidate. "Why is Bernie Sanders so popular?" followed by "Can Bernie Sanders win?" and "How old is Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders?"

For Martin O'Malley, the top questions were: "Why is Martin O'Malley running for President?", "Martin O'Malley was Governor of which state?" and "Is Martin O'Malley still running for President?"

Searches on Bernie Sanders had the highest spikes during the debate, representing the most searches at any given time -- at 6:05 P.M., just a few minutes after the debate began during his opening statements, and 6:23 P.M.  

The top issues searched on during the debate focused on taxes, education, ISIS, minimum wage, and ObamaCare.

The top 10 trending queries turned to "martin o'malley," "democratic debate 2016," "debate," "democratic debate tonight," "iowa caucus," "democratic debate January 17," "democratic candidates," "debate schedule 2016," "omalley," and "nbc democratic debate."

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