Bernie Sanders is leading Hillary Clinton for the first time nationally in a new Fox News poll that puts Sanders at 47 percent, and Clinton at 44 percent.
While national polls are less meaningful that state-level polls, Sanders’ three-point lead is a massive turnaround for the socialist senator, as Clinton was ahead by as much as 46 points in polls taken last summer, and had a 22-point lead just two months ago.
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“One thing that is clear from our poll — and others — is that Clinton has been losing support and Sanders has been gaining,” Democratic pollster Chris Anderson said. “And this process appears to have accelerated since the contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.”
When the Fox poll was last conducted, Jan. 18-21, Clinton led by 12 points, 49 percent to 37 percent.
“Blue-collar, white Democrats have been a major source of Clinton’s defection,” the poll said. That constituency was the lynchpin of her attempt to defeat Barack Obama in 2008.
The poll has more good news for Sanders, as it also said he would defeat Donald Trump 53-38 percent in a hypothetical matchup.
Clinton also leads Trump in this poll, but by a smaller margin, 47-42 percent
The poll found that 58 percent of people prefer that the next president “be a political outsider,” while just 37 percent wanted “political experience.”
Thirty-nine percent of Republicans also trust Trump most to negotiate with Putin; the next closest candidate is Ted Cruz at 18 percent.
