THOUGH a candidate most Democrats outside of the state of Vermont have never heard of, Senator Bernie Sanders has proven a sustained upward climb in the polls, possibly threatening the frontrunner status of former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. A new poll among Iowa caucus goers, the first to hold the primary in the 2016 US Presidential Elections, proves just that.
A survey released last Saturday, Aug. 29 by the Des Moines Register and Bloomberg Politics revealed that Clinton has lost 1/3rd of her supporters since May, and that Bernie Sanders continues to cut into Hillary Clinton’s once-commanding lead among Iowa Democrats, closing to just 7 points of Clinton in Iowa. Sanders now trails Clinton 37 percent to 30 percent. CNN reports that just last January, half of likely Democratic caucus goers were unfamiliar with Sanders, and he was pulling in just 5 percent of support.
According to CNN, the poll finds that Sanders’ support is more due to voters’ enthusiasm for his candidacy and his message, rather than opposition to Clinton. An overwhelming 96 percent of those who support Sanders say they support him and his ideas. Only 2 percent say their vote is motivated by a desire to stop a Clinton candidacy.
The report further says that as for the controversy surrounding Clinton’s use of email while leading the State Department, 61 percent of likely Democratic caucus goers say the issue is not important to them.
The poll further reveals that Sanders “has a deeper reservoir of support”, with 39 percent of likely caucus goers say their feelings about Sanders are very favorable and just 8 percent having a negative view of him. In contrast to Clinton: 27 percent view her very favorably, but 19 percent view her negatively.
Sanders has been running a campaign that has put forth a platform of how the government should help ordinary Americans, providing them with basic services like health care, education, higher wages, stronger protection of consumer rights, instead of the government being run and manipulated by powerful oligarchs, benefitting the richest of the rich in society, at the expense of the middle class.
Sanders’ appeal has been further strengthened by the consistency of and commitment to his message since the 1980s, a stark contrast to his political opponents.
“What this new poll shows is that the more Iowans get to know Bernie, the better they like him and what he stands for. We’ve seen the same thing in New Hampshire and across the country,” CNN quoted Sanders’ campaign spokesman Michael Briggs.
Meanwhile, the same poll further says that Vice President Joe Biden, [he has not declared his candidacy for president], captured 14 percent of the vote, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (3 percent), former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb (2 percent) and former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee (1 percent).
Carson ties with Trump
For the first time in more than a month, real estate mogul and reality show star Donald Trump’s frontrunner status is now being threatened by a newbie in politics and another anti-establishment candidate, Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon.
Carson has surged up in the pack to tie Trump in Iowa, according to the results of the poll released by Monmouth University on Monday, Aug. 31.
According to the survey, Trump and Carson are now tied at 23 percent. CNN reported that this is the first time since July 26 that a poll in the first four states to select a Republican nominee did not find Trump substantially ahead of all other candidates.
CNN further reported that according to the Monmouth poll, farther behind Trump and Carson were former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina at 10 percent; Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at 9 percent; Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker at 7 percent; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 5 percent; Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, each at 4 percent; Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul at 3 percent; and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum at 2 percent. CNN added that no other candidates topped 1 percent.
This is a big change from the Iowa poll conducted by Monmouth University, taken before the first Republican debate. In late July, Walker led with 22 percent, Trump had 13 percent, Carson had 8 percent and Fiorina was at 3 percent.
A CNN/ORC poll taken in early August revealed that Trump’s lead had diminished, compared to the results of the latest Monmouth survey in Iowa. Trump was then at 22 percent, Carson was at 14 percent, Walker was at 9 percent, Cruz was at 8 percent and Fiorina was at 7 percent.
Could Bernie Sanders and Ben Carson really have the chance to be President after all?
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
