Hillary Clinton Holds Large National Lead over Bernie Sanders

Aided by her solid performance in the first debate for the Democrats Hillary Clinton regained control of the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination of which she had lost some ground because of a controversial summer.

She now has a commanding lead over second place Senator Bernie Sanders for the party’s nomination.

Vice President Joe Biden, who as of yet has not announced if he will join the race for the Democrats, nevertheless is third in popularity polls amid signs of slippage the last months.

If Biden decided he was not running, a recent poll indicates much of the support he currently has would be transferred to Clinton and not Sanders.

By a margin of 2 to 1, Democrats and independents who are Democratic leaning, rate Clinton above Sanders as the winner of the first debate last week in Las Vegas.

There will be two more debates this month that are seen as being important tests for the former Secretary of State, whose candidacy has taken a hit over questions about how secure her private server for emails was when she used her private email while Secretary of State.

This Thursday, Clinton is testifying before the committee of the House that in currently investigating the Benghazi, Libya attacks on September 11 and 12 of 2012, which led to four Americans being killed.

On Saturday, she is joining the other presidential candidates from the Democrats in Iowa at the Jefferson Jackson Dinner.

Clinton is currently leading the Democrats with 54% support from registered Democrats and those independents who are Democrat-leaning. That compares with September’s 42%, which by far was the lowest for her of support over the last two years, and 63% during July.

Sanders is running second at 23% almost the identical number he held in September.

The Vermont Senator, who has tapped the energy amongst those in the progressive arm of the Democrats, saw his support rise through spring and into summer.

These latest results mark just the first time his support did not move up from the prior month to the next.