Signaling that the primary race is far from over, a new national poll shows Bernie Sanders tied with Hillary Clinton among those who have voted or plan to vote in a Democratic contest this year.
The Bloomberg Politics survey found 49 percent of respondents preferred Sanders, while 48 percent backed Clinton.
Bloomberg reports: “By a more than 2-to-1 ratio, Democratic primary voters say Sanders would fight harder than Clinton for the middle class and do the most to rein in the power of Wall Street. Nearly six in 10 say the Vermont senator cares the most about people like them, and 64 percent see him as the most honest and trustworthy candidate. Just a quarter of voters said that of Clinton.”
J. Ann Selzer, whose firm conducted the poll, told Bloomberg, “It comes down to this: Bernie Sanders is the one Democrats see as looking out for them—meaning he will build a stronger middle class at the expense of Wall Street. They trust him to do it. In the end, Hillary Clinton has a trust problem.”
To that end, Politico notes, “voters were split on her changing views on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (46 percent bothered to 48 percent unbothered) and a majority said her paid speeches to Wall Street firms were a concern (54 percent to 45 percent).”
However, the poll suggested that “Clinton may…benefit from the shifting focus to foreign policy in the wake of Tuesday’s terrorist attacks in Brussels, which killed at least 31 people,” Bloomberg wrote. “Asked which candidate can best combat Islamic terrorism, Clinton bests Sanders by a more than 3-to-1 ratio.”
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT