Hillary Clinton has widened her lead following last week's debate according to a new
NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released Tuesday.
The survey, conducted Oct. 15-18, found Mrs. Clinton leading the primary field with 49% support, compared with 29% for Sen. Bernie Sanders, and 15% for Mr. Biden.
Without the vice president on the ballot, Mrs. Clinton’s lead over Mr. Sanders opened to 58% to 33%—a margin 10 percentage points wider than in a Journal/NBC News poll taken in late September, before the Oct. 13 Democratic debate.
These numbers are
almost identical to those in the yesterday's CNN/ORC poll. However, this poll found a lower level of enthusiasm for Joe Biden entering the race, with just 30 percent of Democratic primary voters saying he should get in, while 38 percent say he shouldn't.
An ABC/Washington Post poll released Tuesday put Clinton's numbers even higher without Biden in the race:
Leaving Biden out of the equation, she has even more support, 64 percent, compared with 25 percent for Sanders, with others in the low single digits. That’s improved slightly for Clinton from a 56-28 percent race vs. Sanders in September.
Measured just against Sanders, Clinton prevails on empathy, her positions on the issues and, especially, electability, leading him on these by 51-37 percent, 53-36 percent and 73-21 percent, respectively. However, leaned Democrats divide evenly between Clinton and Sanders on another attribute, which of them is more honest and trustworthy. That marks a vulnerability for Clinton not just in the Democratic contest but in a potential general election campaign beyond.