Sanders leads by double digits in latest NBC/WSJ poll as Biden sinks, Bloomberg rises

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., billionaire Tom Steyer and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, all trailed Buttigieg.

Sanders’ 12 point lead is well outside the 4.7 point margin of error of the new survey, which was conducted between Feb 14-17 on a sample size of 900 registered voters.

Preliminary analysis of the results indicates that the biggest beneficiaries of Biden’s tumbling numbers were Bloomberg and Buttigieg, both moderates who are working hard to offer voters an alternative to the stridently progressive message coming from Sanders.

Bloomberg will be making his first appearance on the Democratic primary debate stage this week in Nevada, despite the fact that his is not competing in the first four nominating states: Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.

Instead, Bloomberg has focused on Texas and other states that vote on Super Tuesday, March 3. His ads, however, appear to have made an impression: In January, 59% of poll respondents said they remember seeing an ad from Bloomberg on TV or social media.

The survey also measured comfort levels among voters with certain qualities in a presidential candidate for the first time this month. These include a candidate “who self-funds their campaign with hundreds of millions of dollars of their own money” and a candidate who “is a socialist.”

Among Democratic primary voters, just 16% said they would be “very uncomfortable” voting for a candidate who used his or her personal fortune to fund their campaign. Among registered voters of both parties, the survey found the same number, 16%, reported they would be “very uncomfortable” voting for a self-funded candidate.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/18/nbcwsj-poll-sanders-leads-by-double-digits-as-biden-sinks-bloomberg-rises.html