Polls Show Biden Way Ahead in South Carolina

A new poll shows that Joe Biden, who needs a victory in South Carolina's Democratic primary Saturday, has nothing to worry about. He leads Bernie Sanders, 36% to 26%, in a Monmouth University poll and Tom Steyer, 35% to 17%, in a Clemson University Palmetto Poll. Steyer was third at 15% in the Monmouth poll, and Sanders was third in the Clemson one at 13%, USA Today reports. The former vice president's lead in those polls was much larger than earlier polls have found. "A key metric for Biden in this make-or-break state is that his support appears to be firm," the Monmouth polling director said Thursday.

Biden did poorly in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, and he's hoping a solid victory in South Carolina will revive his candidacy heading into Super Tuesday next week, per Politico. Even that scenario might not work out for Biden, per the Hill, given Sanders' popularity in the next stops, including California. An encouraging sign for Biden is that the South Carolina polls show him running strong in demographic categories across the board, while Sanders lags well behind among seniors, women and voters who say they're moderate or conservative. The Monmouth poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percentage points; it's plus or minus 3.8 points for the Clemson poll, per USA Today. (More Joe Biden 2020 stories.)