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Bernie Sanders just melted away a 30-point Hillary Clinton lead in a new poll

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) closed a 30-point gap with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to virtually tie her in a new national survey published Friday.

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The poll, from Quinnipiac University, found Clinton leading Sanders among national Democratic primary voters, 44% to 42%.

That was a wild swing from a mid-December Quinnipiac poll that found Clinton leading 61% to 30% nationally over Sanders.

Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

"Democrats nationwide are feeling the Bern as Sen. Bernie Sanders closes a 31-point gap to tie Secretary Hillary Clinton," said Tim Malloy, the assistant director of the Quinnipiac poll.

The Quinnipiac survey is the most bullish for Sanders on a national scale recently. Clinton remained ahead of Sanders in a Real Clear Politics average of recent national surveys by about 13 points.

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Still, the Friday survey presented fresh signs of momentum for Sanders, who surprised much of the political world when he came close to overtaking Clinton in the Monday-night Iowa caucuses. He also appears primed for a win in New Hampshire, which holds its primaries next Tuesday; he's up by more than 20 points in an average of recent polls of the state.

The Quinnipiac poll found that Sanders would fare better than Clinton in hypothetical general-election matchups, an argument he has started to make on the campaign trail. For example, while Clinton would lose to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) by 7 points, Sanders would tie him, according to the survey. He would also double Clinton's margin of victory over real-estate magnate Donald Trump.

For his part, Trump continued to lead on the Republican side, according to Quinnipiac. He received 31% of the vote, followed by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas at 22% and Rubio at 19%.

Bernie Sanders Hillary Clinton
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