Poll: Hillary maintains lead, but Dem voters don't mind Bernie

Hillary Clinton has maintained a commanding lead among Democratic primary voters, but most of her supporters also wouldn’t mind if Bernie Sanders became the nominee, according to a poll released Wednesday.

The Monmouth University poll, including 429 registered voters who identify themselves as Democrats or leaning toward that party, found 52 percent support Clinton. Sanders was at 16 percent, and Joe Biden, who reportedly is weighing a presidential run, received support from 12 percent of respondents. Martin O’Malley and Jim Webb each had support of 2 percent of Democratic respondents. The results are essentially the same as Monmouth’s July poll results.


The poll found that 56 percent of Democrats said they would be enthusiastic or satisfied if Sanders became the nominee, while fewer than 1 in 4 said they would be dissatisfied or upset. Among Clinton supporters, half said they would feel positively about a Sanders ticket.

Clinton’s favorability among Democrats has declined somewhat, from 82 percent in December to 71 percent in Wednesday’s Monmouth’s poll. Meanwhile, Sanders’ popularity has increased — in December, 22 percent of Democrats viewed him positively and 65 percent had no opinion. According to the most recent poll, he had a 42 percent favorable rating and 12 percent unfavorable rating, lower than Clinton’s 17 percent unfavorable rating. Forty-five percent of respondents said they have no opinion of Sanders.

The results showing Democrats would be satisfied with a Sanders victory may be cause for worry in the Clinton camp, as they indicate a lack of deep enthusiasm for her candidacy.

Meanwhile, in New Hampshire, a poll released Tuesday showed Clinton and Sanders in a statistical tie in the Granite State. The WMUR Granite State poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, found 42 percent of likely Democratic primary-goers support Clinton and 36 percent support Sanders, within the margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percent. But the poll also indicated many New Hampshire voters aren’t yet paying close attention to the race — just 20 percent said they have decided who they’ll support, 27 percent are leaning toward a candidate and 53 percent are still up for grabs.

The Monmouth poll was conducted from July 30 to Aug. 2 with a national random sample of 1,203 adults. The results are based on a subsample of 429 registered voters who identify themselves as Democrats or lean toward the Democratic Party. The WMUR Granite State Poll surveyed 722 New Hampshire adults from July 22 to July 30.

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