Clinton and Sanders Neck and Neck in Nevada, Poll Finds

“The leadership that is older is all Clinton, but the younger Latinos, they’re with Sanders”, Antonio Gonzalez, president of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, whose organization has been working in Nevada ahead of the state’s Democratic caucus on Saturday, told the Los Angeles Times.

Just three days before the Nevada caucuses, a new CNN/ORC poll places Vermont Sen.

Overall, 48 percent of likely caucus attendees say they support Clinton, 47 percent Sanders.

The Clinton campaign once held a huge lead in Nevada. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was second with 22 percent, up from 5 percent in the earlier survey. Marco Rubio, 9 percent for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, 8 percent for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and 7 percent for retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. For Clinton, a loss in Saturday’s caucuses would deal a demoralizing setback to the notion that she can count on more demographically diverse states to arrest Sanders’ momentum coming out of the more homogenous Iowa and New Hampshire. It included 602 Republicans with a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points and 563 Democrats with a margin of error of +/- 4.1 percentage points. He believes many non-white voters will be drawn to his message of fighting economic inequality as they get to know him.

While Trump crushes the competition when voters are asked who they trust on the economy, illegal immigration, ISIS and foreign policy, Nevada is split on which candidate would be best for social issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage. Trump and Cruz edge out Clinton by less than 2 percentage points.

Nevada Democratic caucusgoers view both Clinton and Sanders as representing Democratic values, so the idea that Clinton is more of a “real Democrat” than Sanders isn’t swaying voters.

Other polls show the candidates locked in the same dead heat: Clinton is up just 44 percent to Sanders’ 42 percent in the latest Quinnipiac University survey, while TargetPoint shows them in a flat tie, 45-45, and forecasting blog FiveThirtyEight’s weighted polling average shows Clinton edging Sanders 47-45. As in SC and other states, the black vote is the key for Clinton. That compares with a 50% to 34% Clinton lead when CNN/ORC surveyed the state in October.

In a way, Clinton could probably use the Obama endorsement more.

“The Democratic Party has been taken over by radical left-wing elements”, Rubio said, adding he doesn’t understand why people have been calling out Republicans for moving right-ward during the election while Sanders – an avowed democratic socialist – won New Hampshire and is gaining in national polls.