Sanders surging nationally as Iowa caucuses draw near

With the Iowa caucuses just three weeks away, Bernie Sanders’ campaign for the presidency is surging on several fronts.

An Investors Business Daily national poll out today puts the Vermont senator in striking distance nationally of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with 43 percent for Clinton and 39 percent for Sanders. Maryland’s former governor, Martin O’Malley, hangs on with two percent.

A lead that was once as great as 18 points has dwindled to near striking distance for Sanders since Fall.

Also bad news for Clinton, a new Rock the Vote poll puts the senator ahead 11 points nationally with 18-35 year-old voters.

Parties don’t choose their candidates nationally but the latest polls out of the first two presidential primary states also bear good news for the Sanders campaign.

Two Iowa polls put out today by Quinnipiac and Public Policy Polling, taken together, indicate a hotly contested race there. While PPP puts Clinton at +6, Quinnipiac reports Sanders at +5.

New Hampshire, however, is Sanders’ to lose. Monmouth’s New Hampshire poll, also published today, puts the senator ahead by 14 points.

The latest bump for the Vermont senator comes on the heels of a speech given in New York City where he railed against Wall St. and big banks in their own backyard. “Here is a New Year’s Resolution that I will keep,” roared the Senator in midtown Manhattan. “If elected president. And that is, if Wall Street does not end its greed, we will end it for them.” Sanders vowed to break up the big banks within 100 days of his taking office.

Sanders has gone out of his way to contrast his Wall St. overhaul with Secretary Clinton’s, which banks and investment firms have found to be favorable.

As if the surge in the polls were not enough to boost the Sanders campaign, today also brought the endorsement of MoveOn.org, one of the nation’s largest progressive grassroots organizations. Like his Working Families Party endorsement, Sanders clinched the nod from MoveOn.org by winning a poll of its members. Sen. Sanders was the far-and-away winner at 78.6 percent to Clinton’s 14.6 percent and O’Malley’s 0.9 percent.

Iowa, it seems, will come down to the wire, with the performance of the candidates’ ground games  an essential element. People’s World will be on the ground as well in Iowa, bringing you coverage and analysis. 

Photo: AP