Numbers out of New Hampshire show Bernie Sanders has taken the lead over Hillary Clinton:
Sanders leads Clinton 44-37 percent among likely Democratic primary voters, the first time the heavily favored Clinton has trailed in the 2016 primary campaign, according to the poll of 442 Granite-Staters.
Vice President Joe Biden got 9 percent support in the test primary match-up. The other announced Democrats in the race, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee and former Virginia Gov. [sic] Jim Webb, barely register at 1 percent or below.
The live interview phone poll was conducted Aug. 7-10 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.7 percentage points.
Clinton is still viewed overwhelmingly by voters as the likely Democratic nominee, but the results suggest she faces an unexpectedly difficult fight to prevent an embarrassing opening loss in the first-in-the-nation primary.
The Franklin Pierce/Herald poll shows that most New Hampshire Democrats are lukewarm to Clinton, despite her campaign’s concerted effort to soften her image and connect with voters.
It’s good news for Bernie, and he should frame the Herald headlines as a keepsake. No doubt it will help his fundraising and allow him to draw even bigger crowds on the campaign trail.
Not that it means he will win the state. Recall that then-Sen. Barack Obama led every poll in the run-up to the New Hampshire primary. Hillary Clinton won the actual vote. And lost the nomination.
Regarding Jim Webb…putting aside the paper says he was once Virginia’s governor, “barely register” is not exactly the sort of thing his ego wants to hear.
Or perhaps he is being confused with an actual former Virginia governor, Jim Gilmore. Mr. Gilmore is the only GOP presidential candidate who (so far) has not been invited to next month’s debate because he has yet to “…reach an average of at least one percent in three national polls.”
