What to watch for in New Hampshire primary

Trump has also been pressed on whether his ground game – which he said could have been stronger in Iowa – is now up to snuff in New Hampshire.

HILLARY CLINTON: The former secretary of state faces a tough challenge in New Hampshire from Bernie Sanders, the democratic socialist senator from neighboring Vermont, who has led 33 consecutive polls since early January.

The field of candidates vying for a second place finish behind him is finally beginning to separate, according to the survey.

Republican presidential hopeful Florida Sen. Polls predict a heated contest between establishment candidates Marco Rubio and John Kasich, and Ted Cruz, the ultraconservative Texas senator who won in Iowa.

Behind Bush, Carly Fiorina stands at 5%, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 4% and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 3%.

Sanders, cruising toward a likely first win in New Hampshire, seemed uneager to call more attention to the issue. Independent pollsters had generally shown Kasich with a bit of a buzz even before the debate; one of the two tracking polls that captured Sunday’s sentiment (from ARG) had Kasich even with Rubio at 16 percent. Listen, my focus on Saturday night is Marco Rubio, the senator’s first-term united States senator, the fact is, he’s never accomplished anything of any note in the United States senate. “We’ll see what’s going to happen, but I feel very good about it. Certainly our performance on Saturday night has changed the whole race”. And other candidates, including Jeb Bush, said their campaigns will go on no matter what the outcome Tuesday.

He continued, “And the next day, he came in second place and his campaign went on to win the nomination”.

Sanders’ 54% to 40% advantage over Hillary Clinton is down slightly from a 55% to 37% lead in the previous Poll of Polls.

Voters in New Hampshire who are registered as undeclared, or without any party affiliation, can choose whether to participate in the Democratic or Republican primary.

Meanwhile, the so-called “establishment” candidates – the kind of mainstream Republicans that usually prevail in New Hampshire – are split. On the Republican side, 35 percent of caucus-goers said they made up their minds in the last few days, and those voters broke more for Cruz and Rubio than they did for Trump.

If she can close the gap on Tuesday, experts predict she can seize back the initiative ahead of primaries in southern states where she is the big favorite.