He finished in a virtual tie with Clinton during this week’s Iowa Caucus where Clinton declared a victory despite the very small margin between the two candidates; a statistic indicating deep divisions within the Democratic Party itself among its voting class.
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The two candidates will face each other again in March at a debate in Flint, Michigan, and at two debates to be held in April and May.
With only two major contenders left in the race, the Democratic field is still vastly different in nature from the Republican field – which now has nine major contenders.
Democrats Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton sparred Thursday over a timetable for further openings in the relationship with Iran, with Clinton arguing in favor of holding out for more concessions from the country, while Sanders pushed to move forward “as quickly as we can”.
Clinton relies on larger donors, many of whom have already given the maximum legal amount, while Sanders relies more on individual donors who can give more money later in the campaign. Hillary Clinton says of course those are problems, then adds that racism and sexism are also problems. And he’s lately been going after her for supporting President Barack Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. “I know where I stand”.
They clashed sharply over Wall Street and foreign policy.
“If you’ve got something to say, say it directly”, she challenged.
At the opposite end of the spectrum however, it is Clinton who came out superior, with 69% of 65-year-olds and older caucus-goers expressing an intention to vote for her, compared to just 26% for Sanders. However, Sanders was the one who drove hoards of new caucus-goers to the polls in Iowa, coming out with 59% of first-time caucus-goers compared to just 37% for Clinton.
The trip will take Clinton out of New Hampshire days before the state’s critical primary.
Asked why he thinks he can deliver his sweeping reforms, Sanders quipped: “I haven’t quite run for president before”, to cheers, alluding to Clinton’s previous bid for the White House.
After New Hampshire, the next-up primaries in Nevada and SC are tests for how well Sanders can perform among Latinos, who are a strong presence in Nevada, and African-Americans, who make up a majority of South Carolina’s Democratic electorate.
Sanders used his opening statement in Thursday’s Democratic debate to stress his vow to overhaul American politics and the economy.
The CNN/WMUR poll was conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center by telephone from February 2-4.
Republicans too were swarming the Granite State ahead of the crucial February 9 vote, with national frontrunner Donald Trump eager to reclaim the lead after he was beaten in Iowa by arch-conservative Senator Ted Cruz.
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Not only does Sanders lead Clinton by 20 points among likely Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire, he also leads her among independents (69 percent to 26 percent), men (70 percent to 25 percent) and those ages 18-29 (76 percent to 24 percent).
