New Hampshire is Bernie’s to Lose

The amount by which Bernie Sanders is leading Hillary Clinton among Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire continues to widen. The latest poll, courtesy of CNN and WMUR, shows Sanders with a twenty-seven point lead. That’s 27 in case you misread.

Report from CNN:

Bernie Sanders’ lead over Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire is on the rise, with the Vermont senator leading the former secretary of state by 27 points, 60% to 33%, a new CNN/WMUR poll has found.

The new poll, mostly conducted before Sunday night’s debate, found Sanders’ support has grown by 10 points since a late-November/early December CNN/WMUR poll, which found Sanders holding 50% to Clinton’s 40%.

New Hampshire Democrats’ views on the race are solidifying as well, with 52% saying they have definitely decided who they will support, up from 36% who felt that way in early December. Among those voters, Sanders holds an even broader 64% to 35% lead.

But the Vermont senator’s support rests heavily on groups whose participation in New Hampshire primaries is less reliable — notably younger voters and those who aren’t registered Democrats.

This poll was conducted before the last debate on Sunday, but that might not matter in this case. I’d imagine that 27% is probably a little high, though it does highlight how well Sanders might be doing in the state. The prior Democratic poll I reported on from New Hampshire had Sanders with a 14 point lead. At that time, I thought 14% might be a little high, but maybe that’s not unreasonable, perhaps even a little low. Either way, Hillary Clinton is in serious trouble in New Hampshire, a state which she won in 2008 against Barack Obama, but went on to lose the nomination.