Bernie Sanders supposedly can’t win in November, except that he can. New polling from the University of New Hampshire has Sanders outperforming Hillary Clinton against the Republican field in the Granite State.
“There is excitement and energy for Bernie that no other candidate can match,” said Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ campaign manager. “His message that it is time to do something about the rigged economy propped up by a corrupt campaign finance system is resonating with voters in New Hampshire and other states.”
Clinton leads three of the top five GOP contenders, but is tied with John Kasich and trails Marco Rubio by a point. Sanders, meanwhile beats each of the five by double-digits, including a 23-point lead on current Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.
The poll has Sanders leading Clinton by a 60-33 margin.
“Hillary Clinton says Democrats should look at which candidate is the most electable and we couldn’t agree more,” Weaver said. “These new poll numbers in New Hampshire are the most recent evidence that Bernie would be the best Democratic nominee to retain the White House and help regain the Senate and elect Democrats all across the country.”
Driving this divide is Sanders’ strength with independent voters, in contrast to Clinton who struggles with this key bloc of voters. Notably, Sanders leads Trump with independents by a 22-point margin while Clinton actually trails the real estate mogul by 9 points, a net 31-point difference.
“This same pattern emerges in all of the head-to-head match-ups with Republicans between Sanders and Clinton,” said Sanders’ pollster Ben Tulchin. “This real strength with independents – both overall and especially compared to Clinton – positions Sanders very well for the general election and gives him a real edge over Clinton as the more electable candidate, especially recalling that New Hampshire is a swing state that Al Gore lost in the 2000 general election.”
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