Sanders Outperforms Clinton in Matchup Against Trump
61 Percent of Voters Want Change, Compared to 36 Percent Who Prefer Experience
JAN. 17, 2016 – Democratic presidential candidate former Sec. Hillary Clinton leads rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) nationally by 25 points ahead of this evening’s NBC News Democratic debate – the final Democratic debate before the Iowa caucuses – according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
59 percent of Democratic primary voters support Clinton, while 34 percent support Sanders. Former Gov. Martin O’Malley has 2 percent of support.
The poll, which screens out both Democratic and Republican voters who aren’t expected to participate in presidential primaries and caucuses, also reveals that Sanders outperforms Clinton in a hypothetical general-election matchup against Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump. Read more:http://nbcnews.to/1JSnZeC.
Full poll analysis is below and available here: http://nbcnews.to/1PjwueN.
MANDATORY CREDIT: NBC NEWS/WALL STREET JOURNAL
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Poll: Clinton Holds 25-Point National Lead Over Sanders
By Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics)
Hillary Clinton leads rival Bernie Sanders by 25 points nationally ahead of Sunday’s final Democratic debate before the all-important Iowa caucuses, according to the latest results from the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. The debate will air on NBC at 9:00 pm ET.
Clinton is the first choice of 59 percent of Democratic primary voters, while Sanders gets the support of 34 percent. Martin O’Malley gets 2 percent.
Those numbers don’t differ greatly from December, when the poll showed Clinton with a 19-point national advantage over Sanders, 56 percent to 37 percent.
But Clinton’s current 25-point lead contrasts with other recent national polling, including a New York Times/CBS survey, which found Clinton with just a seven-point advantage.
The NBC/WSJ poll screens out Democratic and Republican voters who aren’t expected to participate in the presidential primaries and caucuses.
The new poll also finds 79 percent of Democratic primary voters saying that they could see themselves supporting Clinton, versus 18 percent who couldn’t (+61) – essentially unchanged from December’s 82 percent-to-17 percent score (+65).
By comparison, 66 percent of Democratic primary voters say they could see themselves supporting Sanders, versus 25 percent who couldn’t (+41), and O’Malley has a 22 percent-to-51 percent score (-29).
Despite Clinton’s lead over Sanders, the Vermont senator bests Clinton among the four-in-10 Democratic voters who prefer a presidential candidate who brings change to current policies, 63 percent to 26 percent.
Yet among the more than half of Democrats who instead want experience and a tested candidate, Clinton beats Sanders, 71 percent to 30 percent.
Overall, 61 percent of all voters – Democratic, Republican and independent – want change, while 36 percent prefer experience.
The NBC/WSJ poll was conducted Jan. 9-13, and the margin of error of the 400 Democratic primary voters surveyed is plus-minus 4.9 percentage points.
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Poll: Sanders Outperforms Clinton in Matchup Against Trump
By Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics)
Bernie Sanders outperforms Hillary Clinton in a hypothetical general-election matchup against Donald Trump, according to the results from the new NBC New/Wall Street Journal poll.
Sanders leads Trump by 15 points nationally over Trump, 54 percent to 39 percent, while Clinton’s advantage over Trump is 10 points, 51 percent to 41 percent.
Electability has become a flashpoint in the Democratic presidential race between Clinton and Sanders ahead of Sunday night’s debate in Charleston, S.C. The debate airs on NBC at 9:00 pm ET.
The NBC/WSJ poll was conducted Jan. 9-13 of 800 registered voters, which has a margin of error of plus-minus 3.5 percentage points.
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For more information, please contact:
Olivia Petersen
NBC News
202-885-4159
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