When a little bird landed on Bernie Sanders' podium on Friday evening, the reactions ranged from "Aww, that's cute!" to "Surely, this bird is a tad divine...a heavenly sign that the turning point in the Democratic race is upon us!". My reaction initially resembled the former, because it's always heartwarming to see a big smile on the face of a known grump...but it turns out that the latter reaction may have been the correct one, though not in the way that Sanders supporters hope. Legend has it that when a wild bird flies into your house, it is actually a portent of bad luck. And unfortunately for Bernie, this is exactly what happened at his indoor rally at the Moda Center in Portland. Thus, there are initial indications that as adorable as that tiny bird may have been, it may have in fact been an omen signaling the upcoming demise of his presidential run. According to the Reuters/Ipsos national tracking poll, Hillary Clinton has gained a whopping 10 points (+12 to +22) among likely Democratic voters in the space of just one day post-bird. This doesn't just happen, folks. This means something. Or does it? Maybe it was just a random bird, and birds are everywhere. And maybe it's just another predictable poll fluctuation and the race will generally remain as steady as it has since New Hampshire. Obviously the jury is still out, but rest assured that we'll be following up with more in-depth pre-bird and post-bird polling analysis next week.
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Originally nested at HillaryHQ.com