Sanders camp questions poll showing Clinton won debate

Hillary Clinton made a strong showing at Saturday's second Democratic debate in Des Moines, Iowa.

Sixty-seven percent of the 510 voters surveyed said that Clinton won the debate, according to Public Policy Polling. Bernie Sanders trailed with 20 percent and Martin O'Malley got 7 percent.

A CBS News survey also pegged Clinton as the winner of the debate by a margin of 23 percentage points.

Michael Briggs of the Sanders campaign noted Sunday evening that the Vermont independent's debate performance created the most buzz on social media, adding that the Public Policy Polling survey was "bought and paid for by a Clinton super PAC."

Public Policy Polling conducted the survey on behalf Correct The Record, which is described as "a strategic research and rapid response team designed to defend Hillary Clinton from baseless attacks."

Tom Jensen, director of Public Policy Polling, defended the survey's accuracy.

"Most polls are conducted for paying clients, it doesn't impact how they're conducted," Jensen wrote in an email Sunday night.

Jensen noted that his organization's poll found similar results to the one conducted by CBS.

"Our polls and theirs were the only scientific polls done on the debate that I'm aware of and were in agreement that it was a big win for Secretary Clinton," Jensen wrote.

The Free Press asked Briggs: "Just to be clear: Are you concerned about the scientific accuracy of the PPP poll?"

Briggs replied, "I'm just suggesting that your readers might be in a better position to consider the source if they knew that 'poll' was paid for by a PAC supporting one of the candidates."

Briggs also pointed out that Sanders won the debate according to several unscientific polls, including C-Span's Facebook survey and Time's web survey.

Pollster: Clinton super PAC had no sway in results

Just a day after deadly terror attacks in Paris, CBS's moderator John Dickerson focused the candidates on national security. He started by asking if President Barack Obama would be remembered for underestimating ISIS.

Clinton, who served as Obama's secretary of state from 2009-13, refused to blame the president for failing to recognize the threat of ISIS in Iraq and Syria. She said that the "bulk of the responsibility" falls to the leaders in the region.

Three-quarters of the debate watchers surveyed said that they had the most faith Clinton on national security issues. Only 17 percent said that they trusted Sanders most, and 5 percent went with O’Malley.

When Dickerson asked Sanders if he stood by an earlier assertion that climate change is greatest threat to national security, Sanders refused to waffle.

"Absolutely," Sanders said. "In fact, climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism." He went on to say that climate change will cause scarcity of resources and international conflict. He also acknowledged that combating the rise of terrorism is important and went after Clinton for directing blame toward other countries.

After several exchanges, Clinton drilled down on the nuances of foreign policy by referencing the history of terror attacks against U.S. citizens that span beyond Syria and Iraq.

"This is an incredibly complicated region of the world," Clinton said. "It's become more complicated. And many of the fights that are going on are not ones that the United States has either started or have a role in."

Sanders agreed with Clinton and said that Muslim countries were going to have to take a lead and put "boots on the ground."

O'Malley later used that phrase to tout his concern for American soldiers. He said that the mother of a soldier asked that candidates not speak of soldiers in terms of their gear.

"My son is not a pair of boots on the ground," O'Malley recalled the Iowa mother saying.

While the candidates took each other to task, the Public Policy Polling survey showed Clinton was seen as the winner among all groups of the Democratic Party. She won according to: 86 percent of African Americans, 73 percent of women, 70 percent of moderates, 69 percent of seniors, 67 percent of Hispanics, 65 percent of liberals, 61 percent of white voters, 58 percent of men, and 50 percent of younger voters.

Contact Emilie Stigliani at (802) 660-1897 or estigliani@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/EmilieStigliani.