Bernie Sanders is more likely to defeat Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump in the November general elections than Democratic rival Hillary Clinton according to recent polls, Al Jazeera said on May 17.
Nonpartisan polling organisation Real Clear Politics showed that Sanders — who has run as a socialist supporting a political revolution against Wall Street — had a 13% advantage over Trump. Clinton's lead was about 5%.
In March, Reuters revealed a poll that showed Sanders ahead of Trump by at least 14%. It said if the race was between Trump and Clinton, the vote would be neck and neck.
Analytics expert Dustin Woodard told Al Jazeera that Sanders' advantage over Clinton against Trump is due to independent voters, who have been left out of surveys by other pollsters.
“Independents are the largest voting population in the US. Gallup reports that independents are 42% of the voting population, while Democrats are only 29% and Republicans are only 26%,” he explained.
George Washington University researcher Gary Nordlinger noted that Sanders has done better in Democrat state primaries where independent voters were allowed to vote.
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