The poll suggests Sanders, riding high off his near defeat of Clinton earlier this week, may even the score in New Hampshire, further complicating Clinton’s formerly coronated path to the Democratic Party’s nomination.
Analysts say Sanders, a self-avowed independent socialist, does not stand a chance in the general election but his campaign has unexpectedly humbled the Clinton machine in fund-raising prowess and political punch. A University of Massachusetts-Lowell/7 News survey released Wednesday shows about 81 percent would “definitely” vote for Sanders, versus 75 percent who say the same about Clinton. According to the survey, just 19 percent “could change their mind,” while 25 percent indicated they could rethink their decision not to vote for Clinton. The UMass-Lowell/7 News poll surveyed 415 Democratic-leaning voters in New Hampshire via cell and landline telephone interviews from Jan. 31-Feb. 2. It has a 5.38 percent margin of error.
After Sander’s impressive Iowa showing, former Gov. Martin O’Malley (D-Md.) immediately dropped out of the race. O’Malley was only able to corral 1% of the votes there. Sanders came historically close to beating during the Iowa Democratic primary caucuses where the final vote was 49.4 percent to 49.6 percent. He leads the field in New Hampshire among all voters by 18 percent.
Clinton has struggled mightily to overcome a very real, poll tested public conclusion that she has great difficulty telling the truth on a wide array of topics, including whether she knowingly used a homebrew server to distribute top-secret government documents to her aides and others. Many reports suggest Mrs. Clinton exposed American spies and put their lives in danger for what she described as the personal convenience of using her own email server. Others say Mrs. Clinton was more concerned with dodging transparency as Secretary of State by not using an official government-approved email address. Dozens of major newspaper reports and television broadcasts have suggested Mrs. Clinton used her private server so that her communications would not be scrutinized. She has now admitted that was not such a good idea but at the same time admits to no wrongdoing.
Sanders has refused to make Clinton’s email scandal a part of his campaign, even though her use of a unsecured email to distribute highly classified and top-secret information sparked an FBI investigation last year. Political analysts say Sanders might have won in Iowa had he joined the chorus of detractors lamenting Clinton’s blatant disregard for national security.
For her part, Clinton put a brave face on her underwhelming performance in Iowa. “I am so thrilled,” she told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in a post-Iowa interview. “My luck was not that good last time around, and it was wonderful to win the caucus, to have that experience.”
Analysts say the razor thin margin of victory guarantees Sanders will not be throwing in the towel anytime soon. Clinton failed to establish herself as the front runner coming into New Hampshire. Early on, media pundits all but declared Clinton would wrap up the nomination quickly but that doesn’t appear to be the case, at least not at this point. Should Sanders win big in New Hampshire, the Democratic Socialist becomes the little train who thinks he can, win, that is.
