Sanders Tops CNN Poll in New Hampshire: Bernie Edges Warren as Biden Dives

Sen. Bernie Sanders leads the field of hopefuls for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination in a new CNN poll released Tuesday, the latest good news for the campaign over the past month.

"As we have said from the beginning, this is a campaign built to win and planning to win," campaign manager Faiz Shakir told Common Dreams. "We've been steadily and consistently executing our strategy, even while the media analysis of our campaign has been in disarray."

Sanders topped the poll (pdf), which was conducted between October 21 and 27, with 21% of voters naming the Vermont senator as their first choice for the nomination. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was close behind with 18%, setting up the possibility of a protracted battle between the two progressive frontrunners--both of whose home states border New Hampshire.

The poll found that voters believe Sanders is better suited to handle healthcare and the climate crisis than Warren, his closest competitor on those issues, by 33% to 17% and 30% and 15%, respectively.

Sanders supporter James Zogby, founder of the Arab-American Institute, said on Twitter that the results show that Sanders is on the upswing.

"He's seen as best on climate change and health care--the two issues rated most important by N.H. voters," said Zogby. "I guess #BerniesBack (as I knew he would be) and the 'bouncing ball' polls show it."

Joe Biden, who came in third with 15% of the poll, saw support drop nine points from the last New Hampshire CNN poll. It's the latest sign of trouble for the former vice president, whose falling fundraising numbers have been a source of concern to supporters and staff recently. South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg sat in fourth with 10%; no other candidate cracked double digits in the poll.

As Common Dreams reported on October 24, Biden's supporters were considering starting a super PAC to assist the flailing campaign; that super PAC, Unite the Country, launched Tuesday afternoon.

Sanders' lead in new Hampshire comes after a tumultuous month wherein the senator had a heart attack, performed well in a debate, earned the endorsement of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), rallied in New York City in front of over 26,000 people with Ocasio-Cortez, and laid out a plan to legalize marijuana.

"This month has definitely been huge for Sanders," tweeted Michael Sayman, a political activist who works as a top manager for Google.

On Monday, Sayman issued a series of tweets saying that he would welcome a future Sanders administration taxing "the hell out of" millionaires like himself.

"Being in the top 1% of income, my taxes will go sky-high under a Bernie Sanders administration," he said, "but sometimes you have to be willing to fight for someone else, fight for someone you don't know."

Sanders responded to the poll by posting a video of a recent rally in Iowa to Twitter and sounding the same notes of consistency and fighting for progressive causes he has championed in recent weeks.

"The ideas I am talking to you about didn't come to me yesterday," said Sanders. "These are ideas that I have fought for my entire life."