Iowa Democratic voters like Bernie Sanders more — but they're voting for Hillary Clinton

Iowa Democrats may like Bernie Sanders, but they're not putting their money on the Vermont senator winning the general election. A Quinnipiac University poll out Wednesday finds that despite Sanders polling well in certain areas, only 54 percent of Iowa Democrats are convinced he has a good chance of winning the general election, compared to 85 percent thinking the same of Hillary Clinton.

Despite the large discrepancy in general-election confidence, Clinton didn't sweep Sanders in every other category in the poll. In fact, 47 percent of Iowa Democrats said they thought Sanders was the best candidate to handle the economy — the most important issue to 36 percent of Iowa Democrats — compared to only 42 percent saying the same about Clinton.

Iowa Democrats also favored Sanders when it came to selecting a candidate who shares their values and is considered trustworthy. Eighty-nine percent said Sanders was "honest and trustworthy," leading Clinton by a 21-point margin in that category. Eighty-four percent of voters said Sanders shared their values, compared to Clinton at 76 percent, and 92 percent said Sanders cared about their needs and problems, compared to Clinton's 80 percent. As The New York Times aptly put it, the poll essentially shows that "Hillary Clinton wins Iowans' heads, but not hearts."

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"It's not that Iowa Democrats are in love with Secretary Clinton right now. They even think Sanders would be better handling the economy, generally the hallmark of the candidate who wins the Democratic nomination," Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a statement. "But despite all the things about Clinton that give Democrats pause, there is one thing that unites them: She looks like a winner in November."