The Bernie Sanders campaign argues it has momentum despite speculation the campaign is fading. Sanders told supporters at his latest rallies in Kansas City that three new national polls put him ahead of former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton.
“We started this campaign 9 1/2 months ago and we were at three percent. In the last week there have been three national polls that have us in the lead,” Sanders told the crowd of some 7,100 supporters who came out for the weekday afternoon rally. “We are gaining momentum every single day.”
A Reuters/Ispos tracking poll released on Wednesday places Sanders ahead by six points, 42 percent to 36 percent. It is the latest voter survey showing the race in Sanders’ favor.
In the past week, a Fox News poll showed the Vermont senator leading Clinton 47 percent to 44 percent and a McLaughlin & Associates poll on Feb. 17 had Sanders edging Clinton 42.6 percent to 42.5 percent. Additionally, in a Public Policy Polling survey in Massachusetts has Sanders ahead of Clinton by seven points, 49 percent to 42 percent.
“The reason we have so much momentum, the reason we are doing so well, is that … the American people in Kansas, in Missouri and all over this country are sick and tired of establishment politics,” Sanders told the crowd at the Kansas City Convention Center. “And they know that Washington is too busy representing the interests of wealthy campaign contributors to worry about the middle class.”
“In state after state … the gap is narrowing or we are now forging ahead,” Sanders told the Kansas City crowd. “If we stand together we can win this nomination.”
Clinton, however, leads Sanders in the current delegate count. Clinton has 503 delegates pledged to her while Sanders only has 70. 2,383 delegates are needed to capture the Democratic nomination. About 4,192 Democrat delegates are up for grabs. Sanders and Clinton face off in the South Carolina Primary on Saturday.