Biden and Sanders are breaking away from the pack of candidates among Democrats nationwide

[left-of-center2012]

Former vice president Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), whose candidacies embody competing wings of the Democratic Party, have emerged as the leaders in the contest for their party’s presidential nomination, according to a Washington Post-ABC News national poll.

The findings come little more than a week before the first votes of the 2020 campaign will be cast in Iowa’s precinct caucuses, where there has been a spirited contest involving not only Biden and Sanders but also Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and former South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and entrepreneur Andrew Yang both hope to spring a surprise on the others on caucus night.

Based on past campaigns, the Iowa results will have an immediate impact on the overall shape of the race and on public attitudes, nationally and in individual states that immediately follow the Feb. 3 caucuses: New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. A Post average of recent New Hampshire polls shows Sanders and Biden virtually tied, with Warren and Buttigieg not far behind.

Nationally, however, the competition has moved in the direction of Biden and Sanders, with Warren, Buttigieg and others now clearly behind. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning registered voters, Biden is favored by 32 percent with Sanders at 23 percent, according to the new Post-ABC poll. In both cases, those percentages are slightly better than what each received in an October Post-ABC national poll.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-and-sanders-are-breaking-away-from-the-pack-of-candidates-among-democrats-nationwide-washington-post-abc-news-poll-finds/2020/01/25/068ca9b8-3eef-11ea-baca-eb7ace0a3455_story.html