With the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire Primary just weeks away, Bernie Sanders‘ campaign is finally gaining momentum and the media blackout against him could be ending soon.
The Vermont senator is currently enjoying a healthy lead against Republican front-runner Donald Trump, while he is gaining ground on fellow Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton.
According to a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, Sanders leads Trump in Iowa by a margin of 51 to 38 percent. In New Hampshire, he is leading by even a greater margin of 56 to Trump’s 37 percent.
The results are not particularly surprising, since both Iowa and New Hampshire have sided with the Democrats in past elections. Although the Sanders campaign is likely still happy with the projected victory against Trump, beating Hillary Clinton in key battle ground states is certainly more important for their candidate at this point in the race.
The mainstream media has practically ignored Sanders since the start of his campaign. However, they are slowly beginning to pay more attention as he gains in the polls. In the potential swing state of New Hampshire, he currently leads by 50 percent to Clinton’s 46 percent.
The biggest development in the Sanders’s campaign is his growing presence in Iowa polls. At one point he was a distant underdog, but has now pulled within three points of Clinton. She is currently polling at 48 percent, while Sanders has 45 percent.
A three point margin is certainly significant, since it’s possible for Sanders’s grassroots campaign to engineer a comeback in the next few weeks. Since Sanders does not rely on Super PACs or Wall Street donations, large networks were slow to give the Vermont senator his due and primarily focused on the more corporate backed candidates.
Some expected Sanders to poll well in New Hampshire because he came from neighboring Vermont, and many political pundits didn’t expect him to be a major factor in Iowa.
If Sanders can win both the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire primary, the one-time underdog would be an undeniably serious candidate in the 2016 Presidential election.
Featured image via Flickr
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