Bernie Sanders Gaining Ground on Hillary Clinton, Poll Shows

A poll released one day after the Democratic debate shows that Bernie Sanders is gaining ground on Hillary Clinton.

According to the national Quinnipiac Poll, which was conducted after the Iowa Caucuses, Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner, received 44 percent support while Sanders got 42 percent of the support, which is his highest in a national poll so far. Clinton barely won the Iowa Caucus.

The new poll numbers reveal a huge change in support for the Democratic presidential candidates. In December, the Quinnipiac poll, which was released on the 21st, had Clinton leading the Vermont senator by a huge margin of 31 points. Her lead has now dwindled to two points.

"Democrats nationwide are feeling the Bern as Sen. Bernie Sanders closes a 31-point gap to tie Secretary Hillary Clinton," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll reported by the news release. "And despite the Iowa setback, Donald Trump is way ahead of his GOP opponents."

On the Republican side, the poll found that Donald Trump is still leading nationally with 31 percent despite losing the Iowa Caucus to Ted Cruz. Cruz received 22 percent support while Marco Rubio and Ben Carson trailed behind with 19 percent and six percent, respectively.

In terms of Democratic and Republican matchups, the poll found that Sanders and Rubio were the strongest candidates. The numbers had Sanders beating Trump by 49 to 39 percent. If the election was between Sanders and Rubio, the poll had them tied at 43 percent each

Clinton would beat Trump by 46 to 41 percent but lose to Rubio by 48 to 41 percent.

"While Trump, Clinton and Cruz wallow in a negative favorability swamp, by comparison, Rubio and Sanders are rock stars," Malloy said.

The poll reached 1,125 registered voters - 507 Republicans and 484 Democrats - from Feb. 2 to Feb. 4.