Hillary Clinton is being lauded in the press for a masterful performance in the first Democratic presidential debate — but those accolades don't necessarily translate to votes, says Bill Kristol, founder and editor of The Weekly Standard.
"My experience in these debates over the years is whatever the media is thinking, I include myself in this, whatever people like me think, often it doesn't coincide with voters' reactions," Kristol said Wednesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
"They are looking at different things and aren't really judging it like a dance recital where you get points.
"I wouldn't be that surprised if Democratic primary voters ended up deciding they prefer [Sen. Bernie] Sanders from that debate."
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Kristol said he believes Sanders, who is in second place behind frontrunner Clinton, hit home on several key issues.
"He hammered away on the economic stuff they care about, [while] Hilary was somewhat defensive, actually," Kristol said.
"And I thought Sanders' comment about the emails, [that Americans are 'sick and tired' of hearing about them] was clever.
"It sort of reminds everyone of Hillary's Achilles heel while letting him look kind of magnanimous and [saying], 'I'm going to defend you on this Hillary.'"