Iowa Democrats didn’t really care for Hillary Clinton in 2008, and they don’t seem to like her much better 7 years later. Clinton lost the caucuses to Barack Obama (coming in third after John Edwards) and now, for the first time, is trailing Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in the first contest of the nominating cycle.
According to CNN, Sanders is up 41% to 40% over Hillary in Iowa:
“Bernie Sanders has drawn even with Hillary Clinton for the first time in Iowa, according to a new poll Thursday, underscoring the possibility that the once prohibitive Democratic favorite could lose both of the first two presidential contests.
Sanders edges Clinton 41% to 40% in a new survey by Quinnipiac University, overtaking the former secretary of state as she continues to be dogged by questions about her use of a private email server when she was in public office. Sanders trailed her by 21 points the last time Quinnipiac surveyed the field two months ago, and that margin has more or less held in surveys in Iowa throughout the summer — until recently.
Vice President Joe Biden, who is mulling a late entry into the race, collected 12% support in Thursday’s poll.”
Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a press release “Although Vice President Joseph Biden received only 12 percent of the vote in this poll of likely Democratic Caucus-goers, he still may be a winner in the zero-sum game of presidential primary politics because it further increases questions about Clinton’s electability.”
“Even if she were to ultimately lose Iowa and New Hampshire, Clinton’s financial and political power could make her formidable in the states that vote next, especially in the south. But her ratings on key personality questions are giving some Democrats pause. Clinton chose to issue a formal apology this week for some of her email practices, but 30% of Democratic voters responding to the poll said they do not find her honest and trustworthy. Only 4% said the same was true of Sanders and 5% of Biden.”
“Sen. Bernie Sanders has become the Eugene McCarthy of 2016,” Brown said. “He is the candidate of the Democratic left, against his own party’s bosses and their prized presidential candidate, Secretary Hillary Clinton.
“Sanders has seized the momentum by offering a message more in line with disproportionately liberal primary and caucus voters.”
“But unlike the late Sen. McCarthy, who came on strong just before the 1968 primaries, Sen. Sanders has seized the momentum, five months before voting begins in Iowa. History will eventually tell us whether he has made such a large move too soon,” Brown said.
