FEBRUARY 1 is a big day in US politics as it marks the beginning of the primary elections in the United States. This is when both the Democratic and Republican parties choose their nominees for president in all the 50 states of America, the victors of which will be in the race for the General Elections in November.
Only one nominee for each major party will run against each other, although other parties may field their candidates against the major league. Or, somebody from either the Democrats or the Republicans may run as an Independent if he or she fails to win the party’s nomination.
In the next months, perhaps all the way until the end of summer, the candidates for president will continue their campaigns as primary elections and caucuses move from one state to another, starting off in Iowa, to be followed by New Hampshire. Sometimes, the winner emerges early in the game and the contenders for each party concede. Other times, the nominee is known not until the convention of both parties.
Ahead of the Iowa caucuses which will be in a little over one week, who is leading? What do the latest polls say for each party?
Monmouth Poll Results After Democratic Debate (January 18):
Hillary Clinton’s lead over Bernie Sanders in the latest national Monmouth University Poll has narrowed in the past month. However, Clinton retains a massive advantage among black and Latino voters – groups that will play a prominent role in the primaries immediately following Iowa and New Hampshire. She is also seen as the stronger nominee when pitted against the Republican field.
Clinton currently has the support of 52% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters nationwide, which is down from 59% in December. Sanders gets 37% support, which is up substantially from his 26% support level last month. Martin O’Malley has 2% support. This marks the first time Clinton’s lead has dropped below 20 points in a national Monmouth poll.
NBC/Wall Street Journal Poll Ahead of the Republican Debate (January 13) :
Donald Trump has opened a double-digit lead over his next-closest Republican rival, less than three weeks before the first votes of the 2016 presidential race are cast.
Trump is the first choice of 33 percent of national Republican primary voters – his highest percentage in the poll. He’s followed by Ted Cruz at 20 percent, Marco Rubio at 13 percent and Ben Carson at 12 percent. Chris Christie and Jeb Bush are tied at five percent. No other Republican presidential candidate gets more than 3 percent.
Trump’s 13-point lead over Cruz is an increase from last month, when he held a five-point advantage over the Texas senator, 27 percent to 22 percent.
WHO DO YOU THINK WILL WIN in Iowa in both the Democrats and Republican caucuses? Who will win in New Hampshire? Will these contests affect the next states’ primary elections?
Abangan!
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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
