Poll Shows Sanders Beating Clinton in New Hampshire, Without Biden’s Help

And if recent polling is any indication, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has some catching up to do in New Hampshire.

Thirty-seven percent of Democratic voters said Biden should run, compared with 32% who said he should sit out. Jim Webb, and less than half of 1 percent back former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee or Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig.

Clinton trails Sanders across most demographic groups, with broad gender and ideology divides bolstering Sanders’ run.

Much like Sanders, Tasini, a former union leader, was relatively unknown when he first challenged Clinton in 2006. His standing is indicative of his unraveled campaign, raising the question as to whether he’ll choose to focus on his Senate reelection rather than set himself up for embarrassing early losses. If he does not run, the poll found the plurality of his support would go to Clinton.

Forty-six percent of Democratic voters in the Granite State said they would vote for Sanders if the primary were held today, while just 30 percent pledged their support to Clinton, who remains the nationwide leader for the party’s nomination.

Biden has gained ground in the poll as speculation about his candidacy has grown. At the same time, Vice President Joe Biden is weighing whether or not to enter the race. Additionally, 40 percent said they expect Trump to win New Hampshire and a plurality of 27 percent expect him to win the national race.

“She may have more people on the payroll, but that’s not to say she has a bigger organization”, he added. By June of this year, Sanders had moved from a fringe gadfly to a legitimate challenger, but still only drew 35% to Hillary’s 43%. Even with moderates in New Hampshire, Sanders “leads 37% to 31%”. Clinton began the year with an 83% favorable rating in February, but hasn’t come close to that since.

The CNN/WMUR poll was conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center by telephone from September 17 through 23. New Hampshire primary history is filled with insurgents who tried to take on the party’s establishment pick with a passionate liberal base, starting with Gary Hart’s victory in 1984. For results among the sample of Democratic primary voters, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 5.5 percentage points.