Moreover, when Clinton was forced to defend her tendency to flip positions on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, all we heard from other candidates was silence, even though Sanders has been one of the most vocal critics of the trade deal.
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The new polls – from the Wall Street Journal-NBC News, the Washington Post-ABC News and the Morning Consult – show Clinton surging ahead of Sen.
Let’s take a dive into how much her support rose among these groups.
Counting firm choices and those leaning toward a particular candidate, Clinton was the preference of 38 percent of likely primary voters – which includes both Democrats and independents.
Assessing the lesser-known candidates, debate-watchers are more positive than other Democrats toward O’Malley, (44% favorable compared with 20% among Democratic voters generally). “Blue Dog Democrats – I think that’s where you see a lot of support [for Biden] coming in”, said Horn.
Almost two-thirds of Democrats predict that Clinton will be their party’s nominee.
This is not to say that by objective standards – i.e., against minimally competent competition – Clinton did so brilliantly.
While the youngest Democrat in the race was on “The Daily Show”, the vice president was meeting with supporters to discuss staffing and strategy for his 2016 campaign-in-waiting. Only about half of Democrats say that about Sanders. Another 27 per cent didn’t offer an opinion about him one way or another.
Ten percent of likely Democratic primary voters in the Granite State list Biden as their first choice, compared to 41 percent for Sanders and 36 percent for Clinton. Clinton’s favorability among Democrats who watched the debate was virtually the same as it is among those who did not. Still, there seems to be a sense of Clinton’s inevitability setting in. In August, 53% of registered Democrats said they wanted Biden to run, that’s down to 47% in the new poll. That’s essentially unchanged since July, a leveling off for Clinton after a dip in her ratings since earlier in the year.
Three months before the first nominating contest, Clinton has built a cash-hungry campaign juggernaut that is more far-flung and more expensive than anything else on the horizon. Biden is rumored to be preparing to announce his decision soon, perhaps within the next 48 hours. Sanders picks up just 2 points to 25 percent.
Monday’s poll was conducted among 1,028 adults from October 14-17 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. That trails Hillary Clinton by roughly 26 points and Bernie Sanders by about 5 points.
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Respondents were first selected randomly using telephone or mail survey methods, and later interviewed online.
