TheBottomLine: The Bottom Line on a Sanders Win

TheBottomLine: The Bottom Line on a Sanders Win: How Bernie Sanders Can Win I predict that the Sanders campaign will announce blowout fundraising from small donors, including a gigant...

The Bottom Line on a Sanders Win

How Bernie Sanders Can Win

I predict that the Sanders campaign will announce blowout fundraising from small donors, including a gigantic number of individual donors and a very dramatic yield of total campaign money received from this large and growing pool of small donors. This is good money, from citizens who donate to make America a better place and not to advance special interests, and recurring money, from donors who can give their small amounts time and time again as the campaign unfolds.

Sanders is currently polling second behind Hillary Clinton in the Democratic race for the nomination (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Another potential advantage for Mr. Sanders that political insiders underestimate is his potential to dramatically increase the size of the electorate by inspiring young voters to come to the polls in waves. The turnout patterns of young voters are historically unpredictable, but there is no doubt that Mr. Sanders has inspired and energized younger and first-time voters in ways that could promote the political revolution he is leading.

Mr. Sanders has demonstrated the first requirement of broadening his appeal by appealing to a wide cross-section of voters in New Hampshire. His dramatic success among New Hampshire voters in early polling demonstrates a clear potential to win support across a cross-section of the mostly white voters who comprise the electorate in the Granite State.

The next test for Mr. Sanders, which is now in the early stages, will be to broaden his populist appeal in Southern, border and Western states to include more black voters, Hispanic voters, and white populist voters outside of New England and Northern states.

Mr. Sanders can legitimately claim to be a strong advocate of civil rights dating back to his days as a student when he came to Washington to hear Martin Luther King give his I Have A Dream Speech, continuing through his long-term support for immigration reform and his recent reaching out to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Can Mr. Sanders succeed in reaching out to energize minority voters in the same way he has energized his core based of support among white liberals and young people so effectively? Sure he can. Whether he does remains to be seen.

Mr. Sanders can also stake a fair claim to be the most true and authentic voice in American politics for the teachings of Pope Francis on a wide range of economic, financial, anti-poverty, environmental and social justice issues. This gives him a significant capability to broaden his support from white working-class Catholic voters and heavily Catholic Hispanic voters.

Conservatives and Republicans win when they can persuade voters to vote against their own economic interests, often by dividing Americans race against race, which divides many white voters against black and hispanic voters.

Liberals and Democrats win by uniting diverse groups of Americans, across lines of race and income, based on their shared economic interests. This is the heart of the rationale for the Bernie Sanders candidacy. Can he pull it off? You bet he can.

What is striking is that in the countless match-up polls pitting various Democrats against various Republicans, the trend in recent weeks is that Mr. Sanders is demonstrating potential to defeat leading Republicans in a growing number of these polls. Let’s watch the match-up polls in the coming weeks and months to determine whether Mr. Sanders gains strength as he become better known. Let’s watch Democratic primary polls in states such as Virginia, South Carolina and Colorado to gauge whether he can broaden his appeal to build the kind of coalition that successful Democratic candidates for president have historically built. Above all, let’s watch the coming Democratic presidential debates, which will give Mr. Sanders his largest national platform of the campaign, to determine whether he successfully uses those debates to build a powerful and politically realigning coalition that can win a national election.

Can Bernie Sanders be elected president? It is far too early to tell. But in an election year in which independent outsiders and insurgents are popular with voters, and in an election year in which there is a definite trend of support for populist candidates who battle against entrenched special interests who wield their power over the 99 percent, there is a clear electoral roadmap that could give Mr. Sanders the potential to win by uniting widely different voters with common economic interests.

Can Bernie Sanders pull it off? Stay tuned!

TheBottomLine: The Bottom Line on Why Sanders will Overtake Hilla...

TheBottomLine: The Bottom Line on Why Sanders will Overtake Hilla...: 10 Reasons Bernie Sanders Will Overtake Hillary Clinton in National Polls Before the Iowa Caucus The Iowa Caucus is on  February 1, 201...

The Bottom Line on Why Sanders will Overtake Hillary!

10 Reasons Bernie Sanders Will Overtake Hillary Clinton in National Polls Before the Iowa Caucus

The Iowa Caucus is on February 1, 2016.

Back in late June, when I wrote Why Bernie Sanders Will Become the Democratic Nominee and Defeat Any Republican in 2016, Hillary Clinton had a commanding lead over Bernie Sanders. According to the Huffpost Pollster interactive chart, Clinton's support within the Democratic Party was at 58.3% to only 15.6% for Bernie Sanders. Fast forward a couple of months and Bernie Sanders is now only 7 pointsfrom Clinton. Therefore, below are ten reasons Bernie Sanders will continue his ascent atop the Democratic Party and officially surpass Clinton in national polls before the Iowa Caucus.

1. Bernie Sanders is now only 7 points behind Clinton in the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

According to The Huffington Post, the latest poll shows Bernie Sanders only 7 points behind Clinton:

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) narrowed the gap with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll.

In the poll, conducted among Democratic primary voters Sept. 20-24, Clinton led Sanders 42 percent to 35 percent. While the new poll isn't necessarily an indicator of who will win the contest, the 7-point difference shows a big change from just two months ago. In July, Clinton led Sanders by 34 percentage points, with 59 percent to his 25 percent.

Considering Clinton's ongoing email scandal and Bernie's increased name recognition, it's likely that Bernie Sanders overtakes Clinton before next February.

2, The email scandal is "defining" Hillary Clinton according to Gallup and making it difficult to discuss issues important to voters. In contrast, Bernie Sanders has surpassed Clinton in Iowa and New Hampshire, even though 25% of voters have "not heard enough" of the Vermont Senator.

According to a September 16, 2016 Gallup report, "when Gallup recently asked Americans to say what they recall reading or hearing about her, one word -- "email" -- drowned out everything else."

While Clinton's campaign is being "drowned out" by the email scandal, Bernie Sanders is gaining enormous support.

Most surprisingly, Gallup finds that, "when the responses of the 279 Democrats and Democratic leaners surveyed are isolated in a word map, 'email' trumps everything else."

POLITICO explains in Hillary's FBI nightmare that, "If the feds have Clinton's personal emails, too, some of them are bound to come out -- exactly as she feared."

So, it's likely that Hillary Clinton will be further embroiled in the email scandal while Bernie Sanders continues to focus on issues by February 1, 2016.

3. A recent CNN Poll finds that 42% of Democratic Primary voters back Clinton while 24% support Sanders. However, this poll (or at least its long-term relevance) is contradicted by various other polls illustrating voters don't trust Clinton.

Voters nationally don't trust Clinton; even within the Democratic Party.

Various factors (Bernie's appeal to voters, the FBI owning Clinton's computer server, etc.) have led to the polling trajectory allowing Sanders to ascend from 7.4% support on April 13, 2015, all the way to 27.1% on September 23, 2015.

According to a CNN/ORC poll in June, 57% of voters nationally say Clinton is "not honest and trustworthy."

Another CNN poll in August found that 55% of voters nationally have an "unfavorable" view of Hillary Clinton.

Bernie Sanders.

Rasmussen Reports also has a survey titled Should Hillary Clinton suspend her campaign?, finding that 46% of "likely U.S. voters" think Clinton should suspend her campaign (until the email issues are solved) for the Democratic nomination.

Even before the email scandal, there were issues about foreign donors. Rasmussen Reports find that, "65% of voters not affiliated with either major political party think Clinton is likely to have been influenced by donors" and "more surprising is that 45% of Democrats agree, including 23% who say it's Very Likely."

45% of Democratic voters according to Rasmussen Reports actually agreed that Clinton is "likely to have been influenced by donors."

Yes, even some Democrats have doubts about Clinton's honesty. Conversely, honesty is the bedrock of the Sanders campaign. People trust Bernie Sanders. I trust Sanders, which is why I'll be voting for him in 2016.

4. Women are leaving the Clinton campaign and supporting

According to a new Washington Post/ABC News poll, "Where 71 percent of Democratic-leaning female voters said in July that they expected to vote for Clinton, only 42 percent do now, a drop of 29 percentage points in eight weeks."

In contrast, The Daily Beast writes that Bernie Sanders has gone from 2% support among Democratic women (in December of 2014) all the way to 27% support by the end of August.

5. The main reason that polls show Hillary Clinton ahead of Bernie Sanders is the belief that "non-white Democrats" will continue to support Clinton by a wide margin.

Without Biden, CNN's latest poll (showing Sanders ahead of Clinton) is bolstered primarily by the finding that states 72% support for Clinton among "non-white Democrats."

When the founder of Black Lives Matter in Boston calls Clinton's racial justice record"abysmal," Dr. Cornell West has endorsed Bernie Sanders, and groups like Latinos for Bernie Sanders believe Sanders is a better candidate, then momentum has shifted.

Also, watch Clinton's 3:00 a.m. ad from 2008. Harvard's Orlando Patterson believed it has a "racist sub-message."

6. Swing states critical to winning the White House don't trust Hillary Clinton.

Quinnipiac University Swing State Polls in August for Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvaniareport that voters have a negative favorability rating of Clinton and say she is "not honest and trustworthy."

Similarly, Quinnipiac University Swing State Polls in July for Colorado, Iowa, and Virginia reports that voters have a negative favorability rating of Clinton and say she is "not honest and trustworthy."

Polls showing Clinton having an easier time in a general election than Sanders lack relevant data if swing states don't trust Clinton.

7. Bernie Sanders has surpassed Hillary Clinton in Iowa and New Hampshire for the same reasons Sanders will surpass Clinton in most other states.

The notion that "non-white Democrats" will choose a more conservative Hillary Clinton over the more progressive Bernie Sanders bolsters the view that South Carolina and other states will side with Hillary.

This theory conveniently ignores what bonds Democrats in Iowa to Democrats in South Carolina and elsewhere: progressive values. In terms of progressive values, Bernie Sanders has championed causes that Clinton needed time to "evolve" towards, and nobody questions his progressive credentials.

8. One look at the HuffPost Pollster interactive chart illustrates that Clinton won't be able to hold on to a lead.

Taking into account a number of factors, from the FBI to Clinton's trustworthiness issues, simply look at the Huffpost Pollster interactive chart if you question the belief that Bernie Sanders will win the Democratic nomination.

9. Standard poll questions aren't relevant to voters in 2016. Here's the question Democratic presidential polls should ask.

Since it's only Clinton and Sanders for Democrats, CNN and others should ask their poll questions in this manner:

When comparing Hillary Clinton to Bernie Sanders on issues like education, healthcare, wealth inequality, foreign policy and trustworthiness, who would you choose? Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton?

Yes, statisticians everywhere are shaking their heads in dismay, but this question would more accurately address the two choices for Democrats in 2016.

10. The FBI is investigating one candidate's emails.

For voters, the legality of Clinton's email practices isn't necessarily the issue. The underlying theme of this scandal is Clinton's decision making process. Why did she need a private server and was it safe?

Not everything is a right-wing conspiracy; many of Clinton's scandals are linked to her decisions. The FBI as well as five other intelligence agencies continue to investigate Clinton's emails for a reason.

For the record, I'm not affiliated with the Sanders campaign. I'm simply a progressive who doesn't want a candidate that voted for Iraq (the only reason I wrote that article about Paul is because Clinton has a neocon foreign policy), evolved on social issues like gay marriage, and once supported the Keystone XL and TPP.

I explain why I'm voting for Bernie Sanders in a recent appearance on The Benjamin Dixon Show.

Bernie Sanders has already surpassed Clinton in the Iowa and New Hampshire polls for the same reasons he'll win the Democratic nomination. Along with the ten reasons above, basic logic dictates that he'll overtake Clinton in every major poll before the Iowa Caucus.

TheBottomLine: The Bottom Line on San Francisco Affordable Housin...

TheBottomLine: The Bottom Line on San Francisco Affordable Housin...: This is what a $350,000 house in San Francisco looks like According to the broker, it’s the cheapest home on the market in San Francisc...

The Bottom Line on San Francisco Affordable Housing

This is what a $350,000 house in San Francisco looks like

According to the broker, it’s the cheapest home on the market in San Francisco, and it’s an unlivable shack.

It is a worn-down, decomposing wooden shack that was built in 1906, and the interior is unlivable in its current condition. The San Francisco house is also selling for $350,000.

Located at 16 De Long Street in the (slightly) more affordable Outer Mission district, the house’s price is a reflection of the skyrocketing real estate market in San Francisco. Since 2012, the city has seen a 103% increase in median housing prices; this month, that figure stands at $1.35 million.

According to realtors Brian Tran and Alexander Han, the shack is “the cheapest home listed in San Francisco.”

Originally an earthquake shelter, the shack was built in the aftermath of the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The 765-square-foot unit caught the attention of Tran and Han during a drive around the neighborhood. Upon spotting the vacant house, they found the owner—who had bought the home in 1984 and had moved out in 2008—and asked if she would be willing to sell it.

“Our job is to look at homes and determine value. This home is really just like any home in that it has so much value despite its appearance,” said Tran. They determined the price in comparison to the neighboring houses; the home is selling for $458 per square foot in an area where the average square foot is $1,066. “To say this home is better than any other home, it’s not.”

With the influx of tech workers driving up the housing market, along with a strain on the supply of houses to meet demand, it is understandable to brokers here why prices seem so unrealistic. “We have some of the best colleges here, it’s a beautiful city, and everyone wants to live here. All thee factors are a big influence in market today,” said Tran.

According to Zillow, $350,000 would comfortably fetch a 1,500-square-foot, three-bedroom home in many smaller cities in the U.S., including Cincinnati, Ohio. But in San Francisco, the listing — along with the media publicity — has drawn some prospective buyers to the place, each with different intentions. “A few people love the idea of keeping the history of the home,” said Han. “Some want to come in and tear it down.”

In both cases, however, Han would definitely advice against moving in too soon. ” The house still needs a lot of work. I would not recommend anyone moving right in. The bathroom is not functioning. The kitchen needs a bit more work. The flooring has a couple of places that are little bit weaker, and needs to be reinforced.”

TheBottomLine: The Bottom Line on Revolutionary Politics

TheBottomLine: The Bottom Line on Revolutionary Politics: Bernie Sanders's Revolutionary Politics -- And Why He Could Win Last week,  new polls  showed that Bernie Sanders's campaign fo...

The Bottom Line on Revolutionary Politics

Bernie Sanders's Revolutionary Politics -- And Why He Could Win

Last week, new polls showed that Bernie Sanders's campaign for the Democratic primaries reached new heights. The self-described democratic socialist now boasts a 10-point advantage over Hillary Clinton in Iowa and an astounding 22-point lead in New Hampshire. Despite these impressive results, an overwhelming majority of political commentators continues to dismiss his campaign as nothing more than a bump on Hillary Clinton's road to the democratic nomination.

They couldn't be more wrong.

Not only is Sanders's surge durable, but he actually has a serious chance of winning the democratic ticket. The reason so many analysts fail to make that assessment is because they view him through the lens of establishment politics.

Hillary, with her brand-name, consensual stances on the issues, overwhelming support of the Democratic Party, and unrivaled ability to raise enormous amounts of cash, appears unbeatable. But Sanders's campaign cannot be understood according to the usual parameters of U.S. presidential elections. His campaign is far too revolutionary.

Pundits see endorsements by influential party members (congress members and governors in particular) as the most reliable indicator of a candidate's chances to win the nomination. And while Clinton's endorsements are already in the hundreds, Sanders hasn't secured a single one. Officially, the reason is that Sanders is just too liberal to win the White House and Clinton is better positioned for the general elections. Yet, the exact opposite may be argued: Sanders's populist proposals -- tuition-free public universities, single-payer healthcare, a $15 minimum wage -- would most likely attract millions of disillusioned voters back to the polls, includingindependents and moderate Republicans.

Clinton, on the other hand, an establishment figurehead embroiled in controversies and committed to the country's financial elite, would dissuade many from voting. The lack of endorsement for Sanders is probably better explained by the fact that his anti-establishment positioning threatens Democratic figures. After all, if his proposal to move toward public funding of elections is implemented, the political map of the United States would be shattered and many Democrats currently in office could lose their jobs to more populist candidates.

This is not to mention Sanders's plan, central to his campaign, to overhaul the tax system to better target the super-rich, large corporations and financial institutions -- half of congress members are millionaires and most have deep ties to the corporate world. This anti-establishment threat is undoubtedly behind the decision by Democratic national chairperson Debbie Wasserman-Schultz -- who also served as a co-chair to Clinton's 2008 campaign -- to limit the primary debates to a shockingly low number of six, thereby significantly reducing the exposure of underdog candidates and their challenge to the establishment's nominee.

During the 2008 Democratic primaries, 26 debates were held. The political establishment's rejection of Sanders must not be viewed as a sign of insurmountable weakness, though it does complicate his campaign, but rather as an inevitable byproduct of a populist, and increasingly popular, message.

Fundraising is, too, considered a meaningful sign of a candidate's potential. Sanders has managed to raise impressive amounts of money, but falling short of even a thirdof Clinton's fundraising drive. That is certainly a major disadvantage to hire paid staff and buy TV ads in early primary states. But Sander's cash has come from hundreds of thousands of small donors, not few large corporations and wealthy individuals.

This means that his talk of campaign finance reform appears a lot more genuine than Clinton's, bolstering his credibility among primary voters. More importantly, however, every single of these donors -- and their numbers may reach the million in the coming months -- will be committed ambassadors to his campaign, far more valuable than TV ads. A live discussion with a family member over dinner, with an enthusiastic friend or coworker, or with a volunteer on the street is far more likely to convince an undecided voter of a candidate's worth.

And the nature of Sanders's policy proposals is breathing life into a disillusioned political generation. Those who rally around him believe his election would truly mark a break with politics-as-usual and would tangibly improve their lives. Once they join his campaign, then, they are ready to invest a lot more time, energy and money on the campaign that those who join Clinton's. FeelTheBern.org is the living proof of this extraordinary enthusiasm: the beautifully crafted website, which compiles Sanders's position and record on virtually every single policy issue, required thousands of hours of work by hundreds of volunteers from across the country and has now become a critical tool to educate the public about Sanders's candidacy. Clinton could only dream of such a volunteer-driven platform.

Finally, polling is, of course, the most commonly-used indicator to assess a candidate's chances. And while Sanders leads in Iowa and New Hampshire among primary voters, Clinton has consistently outpolled him in the rest of the country. But snapshot polls are only relevant when all candidates are more or less equally known to the public.

Three months ago, most Americans had never heard of Bernie Sanders, while Clinton is the most recognizable political figure in the country. Those who lean Democrat, even with little knowledge of her position on the issues, naturally lend her their support -- especially in the face of an often-considered scandalizing Republican primary contest.

What polls did show, however, was the speed with which Sanders caught up with Clinton in Iowa and New Hampshire: once people hear of Sanders's proposals, they overwhelmingly switch their support to his campaign. Of course, these predominantly white and progressive states aren't representative of the rest of the country.

If Sanders wants to stand a chance, he will have to target more diverse population groups -- which he has already undertaken -- especially blacks and latinos, most of whom have simply never heard of him. But Clinton's support is eroding throughout the country, even among what was long thought to be her most supportive crowd,Democratic women.

As Sanders gains increased visibility through an army of volunteers canvassing the streets and the upcoming democratic debates, and as his proposals -- notably hisexpansive take on racial justice -- become known to the public, catching up with Clinton nationally is fast becoming a realistic prospect.

Bernie Sanders has called his campaign a "political revolution." The strength of his populist message, the resounding popularity of his proposals, and the staggering success of his grassroots organizing suggest that, in fact, a revolution is underway.

TheBottomLine: The Bottom Line on Sanders' Granite State Polling

TheBottomLine: The Bottom Line on Sanders' Granite State Polling: Bernie Sanders is dominating Hillary Clinton in a crucial early state Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) has a commanding lead over former...

The Bottom Line on Sanders' Granite State Polling

Bernie Sanders is dominating Hillary Clinton in a crucial early state

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) has a commanding lead over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the crucial first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire, according to a new poll of Democratic voters.

The poll, from CNN and WMUR, found Sanders with a 16-point lead over Clinton, the overall Democratic front-runner.

In the Granite State, 46% of Democratic voters said they would vote for Sanders if the primary were held today, compared with just 30% who would back Clinton.

Vice President Joe Biden, who is still weighing whether to enter the race, was in third with 14% support.

Thirty-seven percent of Democratic voters said Biden should run, compared with 32% who said he should sit out. If he does not run, the poll found the plurality of his support would go to Clinton.

But the poll offered fresh signs of weakness for the Democratic front-runner in the key early state, which neighbors Sanders' home state of Vermont. Clinton's support in New Hampshire has plunged from 42% in July — and from 51% in May.

She was viewed favorably by 67% of Democratic voters, down six points from July and 16 points from February. And 33% New Hampshire voters chose her as the "least honest" of the candidates — no other candidate got more than 2% in that category.

Sanders, meanwhile, has seen all of his numbers surge since the last CNN/WMUR poll in July. He's the candidate with the most positive image score — 78% of New Hampshire Democratic voters viewed him favorably. His support overall has climbed 10 points.

And New Hampshire voters also now believe that Sanders is as likely to win the New Hampshire primary as Clinton — in July, though her overall support dipped, 68% of voters still thought Clinton was the most likely candidate to win in New Hampshire.

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(Granite State Poll) 

The poll follows a trend over the past two months. Sanders has been surging in the Granite State, leading Clinton in every public poll of the state since early August. Other polls of New Hampshire have given him more modest advantages. His strength in New Hampshire has not yet mirrored itself nationally, where Clinton still holds double-digit leads, on average.

Clinton received some signs of lingering strength in the survey — 51% of New Hampshire voters said she has the best chance of winning the general election, compared with 19% for Sanders and 15% for Biden. And 44% chose her as the candidate with the "right experience to be president."

And Biden also could make the Democratic primary in New Hampshire a legitimate three-way race. He sits right behind Sanders as the second-most "likable" Democratic candidate. And, as he has publicly flirted with a run, his support has climbed nine points over the last two months.

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TheBottomLine: The Bottom Line on New Hampshire Polling

TheBottomLine: The Bottom Line on New Hampshire Polling: Hillary Clinton trails Sanders in New Hampshire, even without Joe Biden in the race Hillary Clinton trails Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in...

The Bottom Line on New Hampshire Polling

Hillary Clinton trails Sanders in New Hampshire, even without Joe Biden in the race

Hillary Clinton trails Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the race for the Democratic nomination for president in New Hampshire, even if Vice President Joe Biden decides not to make a run for the White House, according to a new CNN/WMUR poll.

Sanders has the backing of nearly half of those who say they plan to vote in the first-in-the-nation Democratic primary next year -- 46% support him -- while just 30% say they back Clinton. Another 14% say they would support Biden, 2% former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, 1% former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, and less than half of 1% back former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee or Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig.

Clinton trails Sanders across most demographic groups, with broad gender and ideology divides bolstering Sanders' run. He holds 56% of male Democratic voters compared with just 20% who back her, while the two are much closer among women, 39% back Sanders, 37% Clinton. Likewise, Sanders holds a 56% to 30% lead among liberals, versus a 37% to 31% race among moderates.

And opinions about the Democratic race have solidified more so than on the Republican side of the coin. More than half of Democrats now say they have made up their minds or are leaning toward someone, compared with 41% on the Republican side.

In most recent national polling, assessments of the Democratic race without Biden have boosted Clinton's standing well above that of Sanders, but in New Hampshire, Biden's backers aren't enough to push Clinton back to the top of the field. Though Clinton picks up more of Biden's supporters than Sanders when they are reallocated to their second choice, Sanders maintains control of the race, holding 49% to Clinton's 36%.

And voters are split on who they think will ultimately win the state's primary, with 42% saying Clinton will and 42% saying Sanders will. Another 6% say Biden will, and no respondents chose any other candidates.

Biden has gained ground in the poll as speculation about his candidacy has grown. While he stood at just 5% in the July poll, he now holds 14% support. And he's now better liked than he was earlier this cycle, 69% now view him favorably, up from 63% in July and 57% back in May. But New Hampshire voters aren't clamoring for Biden to make a go of it. While 37% say they'd like to see the vice president get in the race, 32% say that he shouldn't and another 30% are neutral about it.

Looking ahead to 2016's general election, voters have a clearer picture of which candidate they believe has the best chances nationally: 51% say Clinton does, 19% Sanders, 15% Biden and 1% O'Malley. Clinton is also more apt to be seen as the candidate with the right experience for the job: 44% say she has it, 23% for Biden, 18% for Sanders and 1% for O'Malley.

y versus just 16% who say Clinton is, and both Sanders (39%) and Biden (35%) are more likely than Clinton (15%) to be viewed as the most likeable in the field.

Clinton's favorability ratings continue their slow fade in New Hampshire, according to the new poll, dipping slightly to 67% favorable, down from July's 73%. Clinton began the year with an 83% favorable rating in February, but hasn't come close to that since.

Sanders' ratings, however, are shifting in the opposite direction, with 78% rating him positively, up from 69% in July.

The CNN/WMUR poll was conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center by telephone from Sept. 17 through 23. The poll includes interviews with a random sample of 820 residents of New Hampshire, including 314 who say they plan to vote in the Democratic presidential primary. For results among the sample of Democratic primary voters, the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 5.5 percentage points.

TheBottomLine: The Bottom Line on Sanders Electability!

TheBottomLine: The Bottom Line on Sanders Electability!: Is Bernie Sanders Really Unelectable? If Bernie Sanders continues to improve his poll numbers and becomes a genuine threat to Hillary Cli...

The Bottom Line on Sanders Electability!

Is Bernie Sanders Really Unelectable?

If Bernie Sanders continues to improve his poll numbers and becomes a genuine threat to Hillary Clinton’s nomination, undecided Democrats will increasingly hear from Clinton supporters that Mr. Sanders is not electable. Frequently, the electability argument is simply a normal campaign tactic, but it occasionally takes on ugly undertones. In 2008, many Democrats were told that the country wasn’t ready for an African-American president and therefore they would be foolish to support Barack Obama. This may not exactly have been a racist appeal, but if not, it was very close.

For the Democrats, the electability narrative was at its most clear and compelling from roughly 1988-2000. During those years, electable Democrats were moderate, Protestant, Southern and white. In 1988, Al Gore was the electability candidate, but he lost the nomination to Michael Dukakis who was neither moderate, Protestant nor Southern and proved not to be electable either. In 1992, Bill Clinton was the electable candidate and just to be sure ran with another Democrat with a very similar profile, Al Gore. For a party that had lost three straight Presidential elections by comfortable margins, Clinton’s electability was valued.

Since 2004, however, the electability equation for the Democrats has been in flux. The party has not nominated a white Protestant since 2000, has nominated a Northern liberal three straight times, but has managed to win twice and lose by a very narrow margin once in those three elections. Barack Obama, a liberal African-American from Chicago with an unusual sounding name won two straight resounding victories, thus rendering old notions of electability obsolete. This is the context in which the electability paradigm must be now viewed.

In reality, both Ms. Clinton and Mr. Sanders have positives and negatives that would come to the fore in a general election campaign. Ms. Clinton is indeed more able to position herself as a centrist, has the potential to bring large numbers of older white women back to the Democratic Party, is less easy to attack as an ideological left winger, is extremely knowledgeable on all the issues and has very high name recognition. On the other hand she is old enough that she may have a hard time resonating with younger voters and has spent a political life time more or less hopping from one scandal to the next. These scandals may not all have been real, or serious, but have been distractions.

Mr. Sanders has more credentials as an outsider than Hillary Clinton, as well as a message that resonates very positively with the party’s base. He is a likable, if gruff, politician, who appears to be genuine and has avoided scandals. Mr. Sanders is also the same generation as Ms. Clinton so age is not an issue when comparing the two of them. The main obstacle to Sanders’ electability is that he is almost a caricature of a Northern liberal, hailing from Vermont and calling himself a democratic socialist. In addition, Mr. Sanders is Jewish. In the pre-2008 world of Democratic politics, Sanders would beprima facie unelectable, but it is not 1992 anymore.

Nonetheless, even the most ardent supporter of Mr. Sanders would recognize that he is not the ideal electable candidate, but neither is Ms. Clinton. If Mr. Sanders were running against a 50-year-old centrist Christian senator or governor from a swing state in the primaries, the more conventional electability arguments might resonate, but he is not. Instead, Mr. Sanders is competing with Hillary Clinton for the nomination. In that context, it is harder to stick the Senator from Vermont with the unelectable label.

And if Mr. Sanders manages to win the nomination in a remarkable upset, he will be positioned well for the general election. If he can win substantial African American votes, win big states that are not dominated by liberal primary electorates and develop enough appeal to beat Hillary Clinton, Mr. Sanders will have made himself a much stronger candidate against a Republican. This is common in presidential campaigns. In 2008, the process of defeating Hillary Clinton in the primary fight made it possible for Barack Obama to become a more electable general election candidate, despite his roots in the Democratic Party’s activist left. A similar dynamic occurred with Ronald Reagan and the Republican primary in 1980.

Thus far, electability has not been a major issue in the Democratic Primary, but if the Clinton camp resorts to that line of attack, it will reveal much more about how worried Ms. Clinton is about her insurgent challenger than whether or not Mr. Sanders is actually electable.

TheBottomLine: The Bottom Line on Home Sales

TheBottomLine: The Bottom Line on Home Sales: U.S. home resales fell more than expected in August, a cautionary sign for the U.S. housing market which has recently looked on stronger fo...

The Bottom Line on Home Sales

U.S. home resales fell more than expected in August, a cautionary sign for the U.S. housing market which has recently looked on stronger footing.

U.S. existing home sales fall more than expected

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 5.51 million-unit pace of home sales last month. Sales were up 6.2 percent from a year ago.The National Association of Realtors said on Monday existing home sales dropped 4.8 percent to an annual rate of 5.31 million units.

The decline in August might be due to rising prices shutting out potential buyers, said Lawrence Yun, the NAR's chief economist. Home sales fell most in America's South and West, areas which had recently seen the fastest price gains, he said.

Nationwide, the median home price fell slightly in August to $228,700. That was still up 4.7 percent from a year earlier, but left the year-over-year rate at its lowest since August 2014. Prices in the West were up 7.1 percent from a year earlier.

A string of strong reports on the U.S. housing market have supported the view that the U.S. economy is building up steam and closing in on the point when the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates to keep it from overheating.

The pace of sales in July remained at an eight-year high even after being revised slightly lower on Monday.

Shares in home builders held onto gains following the release of the data, with the PHLX housing index up 0.8 percent. The U.S. stock market was also generally higher, and yields on U.S. government debt continued higher.

The housing market has been adding to quarterly economic growth although home sales and construction remain far below levels seen in the years before the 2007-09 recession.

Lennar Corp, the No.2 U.S. homebuilder by volume, reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue on Monday as it sold more homes at higher prices.

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