Democrats were never going to have the mud-slinging bar-style brawl that's been the centerpiece of the GOP debates, so viewership expectations weren't super high. But it turns out some Americans are still interested in the issues and what Democrats plan to do about them.
CNN's Tuesday night debate averaged 15.3 million viewers, easily making it the highest-rated Democratic debate ever.
The total viewer number was much lower than the totals for both recent Republican debates, but there was still a surprising surge of interest in Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley, Lincoln Chafee and Jim Webb's first time together on stage.
The 15.3 million total far exceeded most expectations, including among CNN executives. For comparison's sake, the previous Democratic debate record was set in 2008, when Clinton and Barack Obama squared off in prime time on ABC. That debate had 10.7 million viewers.
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