Sanders Up, O’Malley Down

On the Democratic side, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., replaces former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley in the fourth slot.

Sanders has been out making the most aggressive case for a progressive alternative to front-runner Hillary Clinton, and it’s paying off with a portion of the hard left. He’s only taking about 5 percent of the Democratic primary vote nationally, but that’s enough to “have a little bit of separation from the bottom tier that could make him Clinton’s leading rival,” according to Public Policy Polling.

Since he hails from neighboring Vermont, New Hampshire is where Sanders best performs – NBC/Marist tracked him at 13 percent there, when not including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has repeatedly said she’s not pursuing a 2016 campaign.

O’Malley, on the other hand, had less than 1 percent of support in the poll.

The former governor has been effectively frozen out by traditional donors, staff and interest groups waiting for a Clinton candidacy. That’s left him stalled in neutral for most of the last year.

Sanders, on the other hand, has been making a more direct appeal to the liberal heart of the party, if still shying away from taking on Clinton herself.

The independent has said he’ll announce a final decision on a 2016 campaign sometime in March.