Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont has cut a 33-point deficit to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton down to 15 points in a new national poll released with two weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses.
Mrs. Clinton had the support of 52 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters in the national Monmouth University poll, released Tuesday, to Mr. Sanders’ 37 percent support.
Last month, Mrs. Clinton had held a 59 percent to 26 percent advantage over Mr. Sanders.
“With a shrinking margin, a strong showing by Sanders in Iowa and New Hampshire could cut Clinton’s national lead even more. However, he would still have to overcome Clinton’s demographic advantage in the ensuing contests,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute in West Long Branch, New Jersey.
Still, Mrs. Clinton lost ground with nearly every big Democratic voting bloc, including a turn from a 57 percent to 31 percent advantage among liberals to a 42 percent to 51 deficit among that group.
She also has a 54 percent to 35 percent edge among women, compared to a 64 percent to 19 percent lead last month, and now trails among voters under the age of 50 by a 52 percent to 39 percent margin after holding a 52 percent to 35 percent lead last month.
Mrs. Clinton did retain a sizable advantage among voters over the age of 50, leading Mr. Sanders by a 64 percent to 24 percent margin after leading by a 67 percent to 16 percent margin last month.
She also increased her advantage over Mr. Sanders among black and Latino voters to a 71 percent to 21 percent margin, after holding a 61 percent to 18 percent lead last month.
“Sanders is aided by the fact that most Super Tuesday contests are open to independent voters — a group where he performs well,” Mr. Murray said. “On the other hand, about two-thirds of the pledged delegates awarded on March 1 will be from states where black and Latino voters comprise anywhere from one-third to a majority of the electorate. It looks like the demographic dynamic that hurt Clinton in 2008 may be what helps her in 2016.”
More Democratic primary voters also said Mrs. Clinton would have a better shot than Mr. Sanders to beat 2016 GOP contenders Donald Trump, the billionaire businessman, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.
More voters sided with Mrs. Clinton over Mr. Sanders on the issues of gun control and health care, while they said Mr. Sanders would do a better job dealing with Wall Street and reducing the gap between rich and poor.
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley was at 2 percent in the overall poll, down from 4 percent last month.
The survey was conducted Jan. 15-18, with about three-quarters of the interviews coming before Sunday’s Democratic presidential debate.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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