Sanders, Trump leading in battle of New Hampshire, Hillary trails

Washington, February 9 

As voters in a snowy New Hampshire headed for the polls, Bernie Sanders held a 26-point lead over Hillary Clinton in the Democratic while Donald Trump led the Republican field.

With Sanders topping Clinton 61 per cent to 35 per cent in the final CNN/WMUR tracking poll, most pundits expected the self-styled Democratic Socialist to win the crucial first in the nation vote where independents can participate in either party's primary.

Sanders and Trump are the two candidates who also enjoy the most support from independent voters, according to polls. And with "undeclared" voters making up a little more than 40 per cent of registered voters, that margin could make a difference.

In the face of the tough challenge posed by Sanders, Hillary and her husband former president Bill Clinton have sharpened their attacks on the Vermont Senator.

Hillary Clinton noted Sanders has fundraised from Wall Street interests, too, while Bill Clinton ripped Sanders backers for making 'sexist', 'profane' attacks and accused Sanders of derisively labelling opponents as part of the "establishment" when they disagree.

On Republican side of the race, with real estate mogul Trump leading with 31 per cent support, the main interest centred on who among the remaining seven candidates would finish second behind him.

In the final poll, Florida Senator Marco Rubio had 17 per cent support, just three points ahead of Iowa caucus winner Texas Senator Ted Cruz at 14 pc.

But he was significantly ahead of the fourth and fifth place candidates in the poll, Ohio Governor John Kasich at 10 per cent and former Florida  Governor Jeb Bush at 7 per cent.

Behind Bush, former HP chief executive Carly Fiorina stood at 5 per cent, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie at 4 pc and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 3 pc.

Meanwhile, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg added a new twist to the 2016 race by announcing he is considering running for president. In an interview with Financial Times, the billionaire media mogul also  criticised the current candidates saying, "I find the level of discourse and discussion distressingly banal and an outrage and an insult to the  voters" and the public deserved "a lot better." — IANS