Are the "Hillary Leads!" headlines starting to get boring after those recent
amazing Iowa polls?
Didn't think so!
There are a few more out today, and it's clear that Clinton has the momentum with less than three months until the first votes are cast.
First up, Monmouth is showing a big turnaround from their last poll and now has Clinton leading Sanders by 3 points in her most challenging state:
Hillary Clinton has taken a slim 3 point lead over Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire, according to the latest Monmouth University Poll of Granite State voters likely to participate in February’s Democratic primary. Sanders retains his sizable advantage among registered independents and new voters, men, and younger voters. However, Clinton has made significant gains in the past two months with registered Democrats, women, and older voters.
Currently, Clinton holds a 48% to 45% lead over Bernie Sanders in the 2016 cycle’s first primary. This reverses the lead Sanders held in Monmouth’s September poll. He led Clinton by 43% to 36% when Joe Biden, Lincoln Chafee, and Jim Webb were included in the poll, and by an even larger 49% to 41% margin when the supporters of those three candidates were reallocated to their second choices. Support for Martin O’Malley (3%) in the current poll is basically unchanged from two months ago.
If rank-and-file Democrats turn out in force in New Hampshire, Hillary will win that state and be well on her way to locking up the nomination. After a decisive win in Iowa, don't be surprised if that's exactly what happens.
Super Tuesday (March 1) comes just a few days after the South Carolina primary, and it's also shaping up to be decisive. Georgia is one of the states to vote that day, and Hillary is currently ahead by a staggering 57 points:
The 11Alive News poll shows Hillary Clinton with a crushing lead, with 73 percent support among likely Democratic primary voters. Bernie Sanders follows with 16 percent support, then Martin O'Malley with 4 percent. Those results lead SurveyUSA pollsters to conclude "Sanders is not today competitive in Georgia".
"If you're at 73 percent with a year to go in the campaign, you're feeling really good about Georgia," Democrat strategist Tharon Johnson told 11Alive's Jennifer Leslie. Johnson says Clinton's camp will need Georgia--for votes and money--if Sanders has a strong showing in Iowa and New Hampshire.
"They've got to prepare themselves for a big showdown on Super Tuesday, and Georgia is going to be very prevalent on that day," he said.
Florida's primary arrives two weeks later, and there we see an almost-as-staggering
42 point lead for the frontrunner:
Other goodies in this poll: Clinton is edging out local boys Bush and Rubio in general election matchups...and on the Republican side, Bush has slid down to a distant fifth place at 7%.
In Florida. That's just pathetic.
Finally, the new NBC/WSJ national poll has Clinton leading Sanders 62%-31%, a gain of 16 points since mid-September (53%-38%).
Disclaimer: Yes, we've got a long way to go and there will certainly be several more major challenges along the way. Complacency is not an option and every vote must be fought for until Hillary wins the nomination. That said, after what we went through last summer (and well before that, actually), a little celebration after an amazing October is okay.
Plus...some good morale for the home stretch can't hurt too much, now can it?
Originally posted at Hillary HQ