Sanders remarked that it's possible Clinton's campaign is nervous because of his turnout numbers. | Getty Bernie Sanders 'stunned' by his rapid rising in the polls

Count Bernie Sanders as someone who is surprised by Bernie Sanders' rapid ascent in the polls.

"Yes, I'm stunned," Sanders said in an interview Thursday afternoon with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "Wolf." "Look, we have a message that I believed from day one was going to resonate with the American people."


The independent, self-described democratic socialist senator from Vermont edged Clinton 41 percent to 40 percent in a Quinnipiac poll of Iowa Democrats released Thursday morning. That favorable result came days after an NBC News/Marist poll showed him beating Clinton in New Hampshire, 48 percent to 37 percent.

The independent Vermont senator said that while he anticipated that his campaign's focus on issues related to inequality and the middle class would resonate with voters, he did not think it would resonate so quickly.

Asked whether the email scandal is hurting Clinton, Sanders declined to directly criticize the former secretary of state, saying that "it's clearly not helping her."

Sanders remarked that it is possible Clinton's campaign is getting nervous because of his turnout numbers, noting a parade in 94-degree heat in Milford, New Hampshire, that drew 300 to 400 people.

The senator said he was not sure whether a presidential bid by Vice President Joe Biden would help or hurt him against Clinton, declining to speculate on a potential Biden campaign.

Could you really see yourself being president? Blitzer asked.

Sanders replied, "Increasingly, yes."