Clinton solidifying her support, poll shows
WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton has solidified her lead nationally in the Democratic presidential nominating contest, amassing a 25- point advantage over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and earning higher scores than her closest competitor on a range of traits important to potential voters, including the ability to combat terrorism.
The latest Bloomberg Politics National Poll, taken in the days following the most recent Democratic candidates’ debate and the Paris terror attacks, shows that Clinton enjoys another key advantage over Sanders: A higher percentage of her supporters — 46 percent — say they are certain they will vote for her next year, compared to Sanders’ backers — 36 percent.
And in one sign Clinton may be getting a handle on concerns about her likability inside her party, she drew a “very favorable” rating from 31 percent of Democrats and Democrat- leaners, up significantly from 23 percent in September.
Poll findings released Friday show that Clinton now leads Sanders 55 percent to 30 percent among adults who are registered Democrats or lean toward that party. In September’s poll — which included Vice President Joe Biden, who later decided not to run — Clinton led Sanders 33 percent to 24 percent.
Since the last Bloomberg Politics National Poll, Clinton has faced her chief rivals, Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, in two nationally televised debates and won positive reviews for her performance during a daylong grilling by Republicans investigating her handling of 2012 terror attacks in Benghazi, Libya.
Democrats and Democraticleaning voters in the survey preferred Clinton by about 3- to- 1 or higher ratios in a number of key areas: combating Islamic terrorism, having the life experience to be president, and knowing how to get things done in office.
Democrats and Demo-crat-leaners surveyed were asked whether Clinton or Sanders has better credentials across 15 different categories ranging from addressing global warming to dealing with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. They gave Clinton higher marks in 11 areas, while Sanders was the clear winner in two categories: reining in Wall Street and being more honest and trustworthy. The two were tied on two other categories: fighting for the middle class and caring about “people like you.”
The poll of 1,002 adults has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.