NASHUA – Heart attack survivor, fierce Medicare for All advocate, democratic socialist and 2016 New Hampshire Democratic primary champion are just a few of the many hats 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders of Vermont already wears.

By promoting the $32 trillion Medicare for All strategy, along with a $16.3 trillion Green New Deal, Sanders promises about $50 trillion in new federal spending if elected.

For some perspective, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office shows the entire federal budget for fiscal year 2019 was $4.4 trillion.

“Our campaign is not only about changing the system politically and economically. We will change the value system of this country,” Sanders stated via Twitter on Tuesday. “We’re not going to worship corrupt billionaires anymore. We’re going to respect teachers and childcare workers and the working people of America.”

Though Sanders’ campaign seemed to slow a bit in recent months, a slip which coincided with a rise by Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a University of New Hampshire poll released on Tuesday shows Sanders leading the Democratic race in the first-in-the-nation primary state.

In 2016, Sanders won the New Hampshire primary with more than 60% of the vote against eventual party nominee Hillary Clinton. Sanders now hopes for another win in the 2020 contest, which is tentatively slated for Feb. 11, as Secretary of State Bill Gardner has said he reserves the right to change the date.

“The ideas I am talking to you about didn’t come to me yesterday. These are ideas that I have fought for my entire life,” added Tuesday on Twitter.

The Poll

The poll released on Tuesday, according UNH researchers, surveyed 1,266 “randomly selected New Hampshire adults” via both landlines and cellphones from Oct. 21-27.

The university also released a poll in July. Below, each candidate’s current rating will be measured against his or her July percentage.

• Bernie Sanders of Vermont

Current, 21%

July, 20%

• Elizabeth Warren of Mass.

Current, 18%

July, 22%

• Joe Biden of Delaware

Current, 15%

July, 12%

• Pete Buttigieg of Indiana

Current, 10%

July, 6%

• Andrew Yang of New York

Current, 5%

July, 0%

• Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota

Current, 5%

July, 1%

• Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii

Current, 5%

July, 4%

• Tom Steyer of California

Current, 3%

July, 0%

• Kamala Harris of California

Current, 3%

July, 15%

• Cory Booker of New Jersey

Current, 2%

July, 2%

• Beto O’Rourke of Texas

Current, 2%

July, 0%

No other candidate received at least 2% in the UNH poll.

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