Poll: Clinton surges to lead in New Hampshire by taking away Biden’s support
Hillary Clinton is back in the lead in New Hampshire, according to a new poll from WBUR. Pollsters credited her surge to a well-regarded debate performance and Joe Biden’s slow decision-making.
Clinton took 38 percent of the vote among likely Democratic primary voters, an increase of seven percentage points from last month. Bernie Sanders, meanwhile, received 34 percent support, allowing Clinton to surge to first place. That difference is within the polls 4.9 percent margin of error.
Clinton’s rise is largely connected to Vice President Joe Biden’s drop from 14 percent to 9 percent support over the last month. Biden has hemmed and hawed about entering the presidential race, and that stalling combined with Clinton’s strong debate performance has been allowed for Clinton to take away his support, said Steve Koczela, the president of The MassINC Polling Group.
“People seeing Clinton in the debate and thinking, ‘OK, we don’t really need Joe Biden now. She really is electable. She seems to be the person that we remember and we remember why we like her now,’ so, ‘thanks but no thanks’ to Joe Biden,’’ Koczela said.
The WBUR poll tracks with Public Policy Polling‘s latest poll, which also showed Clinton surpassing Sanders with 41 percent support to Sanders’s 33 percent. That result was a flip from Sanders’s seven-point lead back in August, according to PPP.
Gallery: The 2016 presidential candidates
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