Sen. Bernie Sanders, for the first time, has taken the lead in a national poll over one-time presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, 47 percent to 44 percent.
Since January, Sanders has actually gained 10 percentage points on Clinton, in part because of her 5 point fall.
The Fox News poll doesn’t make clear if the findings are outliers or if they prove the Democratic campaign has taken a dramatic shift. But Sanders has been gaining steam on Clinton’s lead for weeks.
And the lead is dramatic, just the same. No poll since 2014 has ever showed Clinton in anything but first place. The closest she came to losing the lead was in the most recent Quinnipiac University tracking poll that put her only 2 points ahead of Sanders.
“One thing that is clear from our poll, and others, is that Clinton has been losing support and Sanders has been gaining,” said Chris Anderson, a Democratic pollster who helped Fox News with the poll, the Hill reported. “And this process appears to have accelerated since the contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.”
Clinton has been suffering an image problem with the American voters over her honesty.
During an interview this week with Scott Pelley from CBS, Clinton again stumbled on the question of her honesty. Pelley asked: “You talk about leveling with the American people. Have you always told the truth?”
Her answer: “I have always tried to, always, always.”
Pelley responded: “Some people are going to call that wiggle room that you just gave yourself ‘always, always tried to.'”
And again, Clinton didn’t give a straight yes or no answer, saying instead: “Have I ever? I don’t believe I ever have … I don’t believe I ever will I’m going to do the best I can to level with the American people.”
Sanders, a self-declared socialist who’s running as a Democrat, has been making headway with youthful voters, in particular. A recent poll showed those between the ages of 18 and 35 actually favored socialism over capitalism.
