On the heels of the NBC/Wall St. Journal Poll released this morning showing a comfortable Clinton lead nationally, YouGov has released their own national poll showing almost identical results:
Nationally, the picture is more favorable to Clinton, who leads by 25 points with 58% to Sanders’s 33%, an improvement on the 14-point gap that separated the two Democrats in the second half of December.
Note: The NBC/WSJ poll was 59-34-2.
The numbers compared to the last YouGov poll on January 5 show an improvement for Clinton when the results were 54% for Clinton and 37% for Sanders, a 17 point lead. O’Malley remains at 3% for both this poll and the last on 1/5.
Also polled were qualities of the candidates, and there are plenty to choose from that should make supporters of both candidates pleased:
The new poll paints a contrasting picture of the Democratic primary’s two leading candidates. 68-year-old Clinton, a former Secretary of State, senator and First Lady is described as “experienced” by three-quarters of likely Democratic primary voters when asked to select words from a list. The number is much higher than for Sanders, (45%) a 74-year-old who was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1990.
Clinton is also seen as “strong”, “effective” and “intelligent” by far greater numbers than her rival. Sanders, on the other hand, excels where Clinton falters – over half (54%) likely Democratic voters describe Sanders as “honest”, compared to just 22% for Clinton. Most Democrats (52%) also say Sanders is “likeable”, compared to 40% for Clinton.
Full results of the poll can be found here. The link has plenty of info for poll junkies to take a peek at. As mentioned, this is the 2nd poll this morning to find these numbers nationally. Of course as YouGov pointed out, this comes in the midst of tightening polls in IA and NH. What remains to be seen is if there is maybe an upward trend for Clinton that is not showing yet in state polls. This week’s new state polling should be instructive and should tell the tale.