Tonight's Democratic debate — the first one-on-one showdown between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders— comes 1) after the close race in Iowa, 2) five days before Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, and 3) as the party appears more divided than at any point during the Obama Era. Who is a progressive? (Sanders yesterday charged that anyone who takes money from Wall Street and has a Super PAC doesn't meet the standard, while Clinton replied that Sanders' purity test would disqualify many in her party.) Who is the *real* Democrat in this race? (Clinton has listed her long time working for the party, while Sanders has never associated with it until now.) What is the best way to create political change? (Is it through Clinton's experience and perseverance? Or Sanders' revolution?) And what is the top job for the next Democratic president? (Is it protecting the gains made over the last seven years and improving them at the margins? Or is it by going in a completely different direction?)
Bernie Sanders maintains a significant double-digit lead over Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, according to an NBC News/Wall Street/Marist poll conducted after Clinton's narrow apparent win in Monday's Iowa caucuses. Sanders gets the support of 58 percent of likely Democratic primary voters, while Clinton gets 38 percent -- essentially unchanged from last week's NBC/WSJ/Marist poll, which showed Sanders ahead by a 57 percent-to-38 percent margin in the Granite State.