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A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released today found that Sen. Bernie Sanders has cut Hillary Clinton national lead from 34 points to 15 points without Biden in the race.

According to the poll, the rise of Bernie Sanders is coming mostly from Democratic voters supporting him. Sanders has gained thirteen points of support between July and September. The Senator from Vermont has seen his support grow from 25% to 38%. Hillary Clinton has lost six points during the same period and dropped from 59%-53%.

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Until Vice President Biden is a declared candidate for the Democratic nomination, using polling that includes him is akin to playing political fantasy football. Biden is currently not a candidate for the Democratic nomination, so any poll that includes the Vice President is engaging in a hypothetical.

The contest for the Democratic nomination is between Clinton and Sanders. The NBC News poll backs up what every previous poll about the Democratic contest has found. It isn’t that Hillary Clinton is unpopular with Democratic voters, but that Sen. Sanders is gaining in popularity.

Bernie Sanders is doing a lot of things right in his campaign. Sen. Sanders has a clear and simple message of economic populism that is driven by a belief that government should be working for the people, not billionaire political donors and corporations.

The Sanders campaign has reached out to red state Democrats that are all too often ignored by the national party. The Sanders campaign is energizing new voters to enter the process and is willing to fight for the issues that matter most to working Americans.

The biggest positive that Sen. Sanders has brought to the table has been a rejection of negative campaigning. His refusal to attack former Sec. of State Clinton has made his candidacy more acceptable to Democratic primary voters. Sanders isn’t running as a negative outsider bashing Clinton. In other words, he isn’t Donald Trump.

The support for Sen. Sanders that was once most visible in the early primary states has spread to the national polls, which means that Democrats have a real contest for their nomination.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is on the march and continuing to rise.