A new national poll out Thursday shows Sen. Bernie Sanders gaining ground in his presidential campaign.
The Quinnipiac University Poll shows Sanders trailing Hillary Clinton. The former Secretary of State gets 55 percent of the Democratic votes nationwide, with Sanders garnering 17 percent.
But Tim Malloy, assistant director of the university's polling center, says the poll shows growing support for Sanders.
"He is coming up in the world. He's got the attention of a lot of people. And he's got the attention of a lot of young people,” he says.
And when the pollsters asked about match-ups between Sanders and Republican candidates, Sanders did well against Donald Trump, who is currently leading the GOP presidential field.
"Donald Trump is the darling of the right at the moment; he's got 20 percent. But if a head-to-head race were held today, Bernie Sanders would beat Donald Trump in a presidential election,” Malloy says.
Malloy says Sanders now is running a strong second behind Clinton among Democrats, and does well against other potential Republican candidates.
But with the election 16 months away, much could change. Malloy says Sanders faces substantial obstacles, including the lack of national name recognition.
“He [Sanders] has got an interesting message, but he’s not that well known outside of the [Washington, D.C.] Beltway and the Northeast ... And of course, money is going to be the issue. There’s a lot of affection for him. But eventually, you’ve got to decide who’s going to win this thing, and who’s going to be the nominee,” he says. “And at the moment, he would not be.”
