Poll: Bernie Sanders Leads Democrat Rivals in Head-to-Head Matchups

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) leads all of his Democrat contenders in hypothetical head-to-head matchups, a Yahoo News/YouGov poll released Friday showed.

Sanders, who holds the national lead in the RealClearPolitics rolling average, would best all of his Democrat rivals in hypothetical head-to-head matchups, even by double-digits in some cases.

The survey, taken February 12-13, 2020, showed Vermont’s socialist senator leading Michael Bloomberg (D), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Pete Buttigieg (D) by double digits. Only Joe Biden (D) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) came close, with the former vice president separated by four percentage points and the Massachusetts senator separated by two. The sample size and margin of error was not immediately available:

#National @YouGovUS/@YahooNews Head-2-Head Poll:

Sanders 54% (+21)
Klobuchar 33%

Sanders 54% (+17)
Buttigieg 37%

Sanders 53% (+15)
Bloomberg 38

Sanders 48% (+4)
Biden 44%

Sanders 44% (+2)
Warren 42% pic.twitter.com/V2EOS16OiT

— Political Polls (@PpollingNumbers) February 14, 2020

Despite the reality of a broader race, the results spell positive news for Sanders, who could consolidate support as his rivals continue to drop out of the race. However, the survey also found that despite Sanders’ success in one-on-one matchups with his closest competitors, many Democrats doubt his ability to defeat President Trump in the general election.

As Yahoo News reported:

The poll isn’t all good news for Sanders, however. Many progressives seem to believe the Vermont senator would be a shoo-in to defeat Donald Trump if only the Democratic establishment would get out of his way and award him the party’s presidential nomination.

Yet there may be trouble ahead. Sixty-two percent of Americans — and a near-identical 61 percent of independents — say that Sanders is a “socialist.” Only a quarter of Americans (26 percent) have a favorable view of socialism, while almost half (47 percent) have an unfavorable view.

A Gallup poll released this week told a similar story, with a majority of adults, 53 percent, indicating that they could not support a socialist candidate. Only 45 percent said that they could.

The next political face-off between candidates will take place on Wednesday, February 19, at The Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.