Bernie Sanders Has Edge in Iowa and Widens New Hampshire Lead, Polls Find
Updated, 12:46 p.m. | Senator Bernie Sanders is breaking away from Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire and is edging ahead of her in Iowa, according to new polls that show him solidifying the support of Democrats ahead the first two 2016 presidential primary election contests.
The polls add to mounting pressure on Mrs. Clinton, who was seen for months as an overwhelming favorite in the race, to avoid another upset from an insurgent Democratic challenger after her 2008 loss to Senator Barack Obama for the party’s nomination.
A survey from Quinnipiac University found that 49 percent of likely Democratic caucusgoers in Iowa are planning to back Mr. Sanders while 44 percent support Mrs. Clinton. The results represent a shift from a month ago, when the former secretary of state was leading Mr. Sanders by 11 percentage points. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.
“Iowa may well become Senator Bernie Sanders’s ‘Field of Dreams,’” said Peter A. Brown, director of the Quinnipiac poll. “After three months of Secretary Hillary Clinton holding an average 10-point lead among Iowa Democrats, the playing field has changed.”
The Vermont senator has been gaining ground on Mrs. Clinton in recent polls and capitalizing on a lack of enthusiasm for her candidacy less than three weeks before the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses. The Quinnipiac poll found that Mr. Sanders is seen as more honest and empathetic than Mrs. Clinton, and stronger on climate change and the economy. She is viewed as being more electable in a general election and stronger on foreign policy.
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http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/01/12/bernie-sanders-widens-lead-over-hillary-clinton-in-new-hampshire-poll-finds/
