Hillary Clinton is now commanding well over half of her party's vote and continues to lead lagging Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders by 20 points in their race for the Democratic 2016 presidential nomination.

A recent CBS/New York Times polls finds the former First Lady and Secretary of State snaring 52 percent of the vote to Sanders' 32 percent and just 2 percent for former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley.

Research shows Clinton holds comfortable margins among many of the most key demographics, among them women, men, liberals, moderates, non-whites and voters over the age of 45.

By comparison, Sanders only performs better among voters over 45 and independents.

Key Issues Cleared Defined

In addition, Clinton also holds significant advantages over Sanders on the critical issues of economy and terrorism, with 81 percent of all voters responding they are "very confident" in the former New York Senator in those areas, compared to 65 percent for Sanders.

While one in four voters insist they are "very confident" in Sanders' ability to reduce income equality, compared to 18 percent for Clinton, nearly 67 percent of all voters responded they think Clinton has been most specific about how she would accomplish her goals, 12 points higher than Sanders' rating in the same area.

Clinton Viewed as Presidential

Expectations that Clinton will emerge as the party's official nominee are running high, with researchers finding three of every four primary voters expect her to ultimately fill the bill.
Data also shows Clinton supporters are more solidly aligned behind her, with 58 percent insisting they are firmly in her corner, compared with just 47 percent for Sanders.

The telephone poll was conducted over four days beginning on Dec. 4, from among a random sampling of 1,275 adults, including 1,053 registered voters. Interviews were conducted in both English and Spanish with a margin of error of 6 percentage points.