Debate results

After a flurry of interest in quick but unscientific website surveys immediately after the Democratic debate, we now have three properly-conducted polls of Democrats to show us what the party actually thinks.  Jobsanger assembles and explains the results here, and produced the graphic above (it's of just one of the three polls, but all three gave very similar results).  Confirming the almost unanimous view of political analysts after the debate, Clinton won handily.

She also remains the frontrunner nationally by a large margin.  Notice, too, that the picture looks broadly the same whether or not Biden is included (though I concede that his impact might be greater if he actually joined the race, especially if the rumored possibility of Warren as his running mate materializes).  It's important to remember that the liberal blogosphere in many ways is not representative of the broad mass of Democratic voters, who are less ideological, more interested in practical results, and probably more focused on the all-important question of which candidate can really beat the Republicans than on which one is most pure of "incorrect" positions.

As most readers know, I'm supporting Clinton, but the crucial thing is for the party to remain unified regardless of who ultimately becomes its candidate.  If Sanders gets the nomination I'll support him and do my damnedest to get him elected -- and the same goes for Biden if he gets in and wins.  That the next President must be a Democrat is far more important than which Democrat it is.  Sanders fully understands this and, to his great credit, has promised not to run as a third candidate if he doesn't win the nomination (and any Democrat who does threaten to do this should be treated as a pariah).  Leave the ideological purism and circular firing squads to the Republicans.  Our side needs to stay united.

By the way, for those who aren't familiar with it, Jobsanger is a very good blog for keeping up with polls, showing the results in easily-understood format, and explaining their significance.  I strongly disagree with some of the views about Israel which have been expressed there in the past, but for US domestic politics, it's well worth following.

Update:  Just saw this and couldn't resist adding it -- Bernie pwns Martin Shkreli, who goes into meltdown mode.