Sanders Leads National Poll for First Time

He leads Clinton in Fox poll and is gaining in others
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 19, 2016 2:31 AM CST
Sanders Leads National Poll for First Time
Bernie Sanders pumps his fist during a rally at Morehouse College in Atlanta earlier this week.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

This is not the February that the Clinton campaign was expecting. After Hillary Clinton's overwhelming loss to Bernie Sanders in the New Hampshire primary and just before the Nevada Democratic caucus, she has fallen behind in a national poll for the first time. According to the latest Fox News poll, Sanders has gained 10 points and is now leading Clinton 47% to 44% among Democratic primary voters nationwide. The poll found that while either Democrat would defeat GOP front-runner Donald Trump in a general election, Sanders would cruise to victory with 53% to Trump's 38%, while Clinton would have a much narrower margin of victory at 47% to 42%.

"One thing that is clear from our poll—and others—is that Clinton has been losing support and Sanders has been gaining," pollster Chris Anderson says. "And this process appears to have accelerated since the contests in Iowa and New Hampshire." In CNN's "Poll of Polls," Clinton is still ahead, with 48% to Sanders' 42%, which is down from the 17-point lead she enjoyed before the Iowa caucus. But in South Carolina, which holds its Democratic primary on Feb. 27, Clinton is still way ahead with 56% support to 32% for Sanders, which analysts say reflects the strength of her "firewall" of minority voters. (For the first time in months, Trump has also fallen behind in a national poll.)

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