You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news. Today, a special all-debate issue.
From 12 to 18 percent
FiveThirtyEight, in partnership with Morning Consult, has been tracking the feelings of one group of voters before and after the Democratic presidential debates on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. The big winner from Night 1 was Elizabeth Warren, who jumped from 12 to 18 percent support after her forensic performance on a crowded stage in Miami. Cory Booker and Julián Castro also saw gains. [FiveThirtyEight]
10.9 minutes; 13.6 minutes
Put a bunch of politicians on a stage and the result is a predictable jockeying for the spotlight. Cory Booker won the first round of that skirmish, speaking for 10.9 minutes during the first debate, the most utterances of any candidate. (Jay Inslee, at the bottom of the list, spoke for only five minutes.) Joe Biden spoke for 13.6 minutes, the most in the second debate. (Andrew Yang only got three minutes.) [The Washington Post]
30 “impolite violations of etiquette”
Speaking of rhetorical jockeying, there were 30 or so “impolite violations of etiquette” on Wednesday night, per the Times. On a presidential debate stage that featured more women than ever before, the men interrupted more — “yet another example of a gender dynamic regularly observed in studies.” [The New York Times]
2 raised hands
During Wednesday’s debate, moderator Lester Holt asked the candidates to raise their hands if they “would abolish their private health insurance in favor of a government-run plan.” Two hands clearly went up: those of Elizabeth Warren and Bill de Blasio. Bernie Sanders would go on to tout his “Medicare for All” plan at length the next night, of which Warren is a cosponsor. [Politico]
0 neckties
Andrew Yang — the “former tech executive,” as NBC’s on-screen text put it — made sartorial waves in yesterday’s debate with his neckwear, of which there was none, a decision that has been called by some (on Twitter) as “groundbreaking.” The tieless look is currently paired with a 1.3 percent polling average. [The Hill]
+500 percent
The latter part of the latter debate saw a surge in search interest for certain candidates. Kamala Harris saw a 500 percent boost, per Google Trends. John Hickenlooper, Pete Buttigieg and Marianne Williamson saw 300 point boosts. I, on the other hand, found myself googling cocktail recipes. [ABC News]
Love digits? Find even more in FiveThirtyEight’s book of math and logic puzzles, “The Riddler.”
If you see a significant digit in the wild, please send it to @ollie.