WASHINGTON (MEDIA GENERAL) – A new poll released Friday indicates former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continues to hold onto a large national lead among democratic voters after her first national debate this election season.
The poll, released by NBC/Survey Monkey.com, indicated Clinton polled strongly after the debate with 45 percent support among the 4,898 adults surveyed. The poll also showed Clinton’s closest challenger, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, has cemented his position in second place with 31 percent support of those surveyed.
Tuesday night’s debate in Las Vegas provided Clinton with a much needed chance to re-energize her campaign after weeks of controversy over her private email server continued to haunt her efforts to gain ground in early voting states.
During the CNN Debate, Clinton received an unexpected boost from her chief rival over the email scandal.
“I think the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails,” said Sen. Sanders during an exchange with moderator Anderson Cooper.
The “damn emails” comment was easily the most memorable moment from the debate which failed to gain any new support for contenders former Senators Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee, and former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley.
The same NBC poll indicated support for Webb and O’Malley hovered around 1 percent after the debate. Chafee failed to gain any momentum according to the online survey.
The next Democratic debate is scheduled for Nov. 14 in Des Moines, Iowa.
The biggest possible upset for democratic candidates remains the possibility of Vice President Joe Biden jumping into the race.
Meanwhile, GOP Presidential candidates are setup to debate Oct. 28 at a debate in Boulder, Colorado.
The CNBC hosted Colorado debate is being shortened to two hours and will likely including opening statements after threats of a boycott from several candidates including Donald Trump.
