Opinion poll shows gains for Clinton in US presidential race

Washington, Dec 24: A latest opinion poll has shown Democratic presidential aspirant Hillary Clinton now possesses a commanding lead over her nearest rival Bernie Sanders, with a strong debate performance bolstering her favorability numbers in the US.

The former First Lady gained 50 per cent of the Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents against Sanders' 34 per cent, according to a CNN/ORC poll, which was conducted after the latest presidential debate of the Democratic Party.

According to CNN/ORC poll, Clinton has even larger leads on foreign policy matters and ISIS, leading Sanders by 72 per cent to 15 per cent on foreign policy, 63 per cent to 18 per cent on ISIS.

The former Secretary of State also holds a 21-point advantage over Sanders on handling gun policy, 51 per cent prefer Clinton vs 30 per cent Sanders, the news channel said. However, the poll suggests Clinton faces a stiff challenge from top three GOP candidates.

She narrowly leads Donald Trump within the poll's margin of sampling error, 49 per cent to 47 per cent, in a hypothetical general election matchup. But she falls behind Ted Cruz by two points (Cruz 48 per cent to Clinton 46 per cent and three points behind Marco Rubio (49 per cent Rubio to 46 per cent Clinton), the poll said. PTI LKJ DBS