Sanders, Clinton in dead heat - Reuters/Ipsos poll

NEW YORK -- Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has erased Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's wide lead for the Democratic presidential nomination since the start of year, putting the two in a dead heat nationally, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Clinton leads Sanders 48 percent to 45 percent among Democratic voters, according to the poll of 512 Americans, conducted February 2-5 following the Iowa caucus. The poll has a credibility interval of 5 percentage points.

Democrats had been supporting Clinton by more than a 2-to-1 margin at the beginning of the year. Sanders has narrowed that lead considerably over the past several weeks.

Clinton beat Sanders narrowly in the Iowa caucuses, the nation's first nomination contest ahead of the November election, but is expected to lose to him in New Hampshire. The two rivals clashed on Thursday night in their first one-on-one debate, reflecting the tightness of the race.

There is still a wide gap between the two in name recognition nationally. Nearly a quarter of Democrats and two-fifths of Independents say they are still not that familiar with Sanders. In comparison, Clinton has almost total name recognition among voters.

On the Republican side, Donald Trump continued to lead the field with 40 percent support. His level of support among Republicans was relatively unchanged following his second-place finish in the Iowa caucus. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas followed with 16 percent and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida came in third with 13 percent.

source: interaksyon.com

Sanders apologizes to Clinton over voter data breach

MANCHESTER, United States - White House hopeful Senator Bernie Sanders on Saturday apologized directly to Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton for his campaign peeking at voter data belonging to his rival.

"Yes, I apologize," Sanders said when asked by a moderator at the party's debate in New Hampshire whether Clinton deserved an apology.

"This is not the type of campaign that we run. And if I find anybody else involved in this, they will also be fired," Sanders said, adding that he hoped both campaigns could "work together" on an independent investigation into what happened.

The Democratic National Committee on Thursday temporarily suspended the Sanders campaign's access to the party's voter database after the breach was discovered. Sanders fired a staffer for accessing the data.

The incident occurred when a technical glitch -- in which a firewall protecting proprietary data was briefly lowered on Wednesday -- made voter data unique to the Clinton campaign viewable for outside eyes.

Clinton said she accepted her rival's apology and supported launching an independent inquiry.

But while she stressed that her staff had worked hard to collate private data, "we should move on because I don't think the American people are all that interested in this.

"I think they're more interested in what we have to say about all the big issues facing us," she said.

The third Democratic debate, the final one of 2015, also includes former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley, who is polling well behind his two rivals.

source: interaksyon.com