WASHINGTON-Hillary Clinton's lead in the Democratic presidential primary race has grown -- and if Vice President Joe Biden decides to stay out of the race, her numbers would rise even higher, a new CNN/ORC poll shows. Clinton is backed by 42% of Democratic primary voters nationally, compared to 24% for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, 22% for Biden and 1% for former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley.
That's a marked improvement over an early September CNN/ORC poll that found Clinton leading Sanders, 37% to 27%, with Biden at 20%. READ: The complete CNN/ORC poll results And Biden's support comes almost entirely from Clinton's camp. Without the vice president in the race, Clinton's numbers climb by 15 percentage points, while Sanders' increase by only 4 points -- giving Clinton a nearly 2-to-1 lead at 57% to 28%, with O'Malley moving up to 2%.
While Clinton has led national polls, she has been found trailing in New Hampshire and at times in Iowa -- two key early voting states. And her downward trend nationally -- amid questions about her use of a private email server during her tenure as President Barack Obama's secretary of state -- has fueled speculation of a late Biden entry, and provided the vice president with an opening even as he grieves the death of his son Beau Biden. Biden is still mulling a potential bid. The poll surveyed 392 Democrats and independents who lean toward the Democratic Party from September 17-19 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 points
After months of seeing her polling advantage narrow, Hillary Rodham Clinton has widened her lead against Senator Bernie Sanders, according to a CNN/ORC International poll released on Monday.
Mrs. Clinton drew the support of 42 percent of registered Democrats and independents who lean Democratic, giving her a commanding lead over Mr. Sanders, who had 24 percent. The poll has a margin of error of 5 percentage points.
The numbers should be comforting to Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, which has seen Mr. Sanders overtake her in polls in Iowa and New Hampshire and gain ground on the former secretary of state nationally. A September poll from CNN showed Mrs. Clinton leading the Vermont senator by 10 percentage points.
However, the survey also shows Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who is considering a run for president, solidifying his appeal. Mr. Biden trailed Mr. Sanders narrowly in Monday’s poll with 22 percent support. He is the top second choice for likely voters, although if he chooses not to run the poll shows that the bulk of his backers will shift to Mrs. Clinton.
For his part, Mr. Biden maintains that his personal deliberations for a run are continuing.
“I just have to be comfortable that this would be good for the family,” Mr. Biden said in an interview with America Magazine. (k)