Sanders surges past Clinton to 5-point lead in Iowa

The Monmouth University numbers indicate that Sanders holds 53 percent of potential primary voters, compared to Clinton’s 39 percent.

But the Democratic front-runner downplayed that data and argued that presidential races naturally get closer as Election Day approaches.

And on the evening of the State of the Union address, those polled by CBS News/New York Times are evenly split on President Barack Obama: 46 percent say they approve of him, and 47 percent say they disapprove. Among Democratic voters under 24 years old, 68 percent say they back Sanders, while just 26 percent support Clinton.

Everyone from Killer Mike to MoveOn.org to a bunch of musicians in Brooklyn have jumped on board with Bernie Sanders, he’s been nipping at frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s heels in recent polls. Results from the survey are subject to a margin of error of plus or minus 4.8 percentage points.

Clinton’s lead on Sanders has narrowed in other early voting states besides New Hampshire.

There is some positive news for Clinton in the poll.

It surveyed 413 New Hampshire voters drawn from a list of registered Democrats and independents who voted in a primary in 2012 or 2014, or who voted in both general elections and said they meant to vote in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary. ARG has Bernie Sanders at +3 in Iowa. On Tuesday, Sanders also claimed an endorsement from the liberal grassroots group MoveOn.org Political Action.

Clinton said she would end the “Bermuda reinsurance loophole” that allows hedge fund managers to route investments through an insurance company in a low-tax country such as Bermuda to avoid paying a higher tax rate.

In New Hampshire, Sanders, 74, leads Clinton, 69, by 14 points, according to latest poll released by Monmouth University.

“I think a candidate who was originally thought to be the anointed candidate, to be the inevitable candidate, is now locked in a hard race here in Iowa and in New Hampshire”, Sanders said after a Pleasantville campaign stop.

Clinton also touted her foreign policy credentials, drawing another, more implicit, contrast with Sanders, who has made tackling economic inequality the focus of his campaign.

The lengthy MoveOn announcement did not even once mention Hillary Clinton’s name.

There are still 20 days until the Iowa Caucus, so we’ll see if Sanders maintains his momentum.