News Analysis: Sanders gaining on Clinton in U.S. Democratic primary race

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders is gaining on Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, but experts say Clinton is still likely to grab her party's nomination to run for president in 2016.

While the senator from the U.S. state of Vermont has long been in Washington, he has never grabbed the major media headlines he is getting now.

Sanders, a self-proclaimed "Democratic socialist," is drawing large crowds with his speeches on income inequality at a time when many Americans are still struggling financially.

At the same time, the Clinton campaign in recent months has seen a firestorm of controversy over her use of a private email account as secretary of state, and she has been under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation over whether she compromised national security.

The controversy is dogging her campaign, but even worse for her is that heavy hitters in her own party have blasted her for how she has handled the scandal.

A recent New York Times article quoted a number of Democrats on the issue, including former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, who said "They' ve handled the email issue poorly, maybe atrociously, certainly horribly."

All this has begun to chip away at Clinton's campaign, and allowed Sanders to surge ahead in the polls, although Clinton still retains the lead overall.

"Sanders has done a good job focusing on income inequality and how the political system is rigged against the middle class," Brookings Institution's senior fellow Darrell West told Xinhua in an interview.

In a recent Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll of likely Iowa primary voters, Sanders is now just seven points behind Clinton, almost doubling his portion of the vote since May.

West said voters appreciate Sanders' clear message and emphasis on ways to help the middle class regain prosperity and have a fairer shot. "He has shown a lot of energy and an ability to connect with progressive elements within the Democratic Party," West said.

Sanders, though on the opposite side of the ideological spectrum than Republican Party front-runner Donald Trump, shows that candidates can at times face challenges from outsiders.

"Both the Sanders and Trump candidacies show the power of outside, insurgent candidates in the presidential election," West said.

"Voters are unhappy with the status quo and feel that both parties have been taken over by big money interests. This gives candidates of the left and right an unusual opportunity to do well in the election," West said.

Republican strategist Ford O'Connell told Xinhua that Clinton is likely aware of Sanders' surge because she is moving toward the left on a number of issues.

Sanders is moving up fast because of Clinton's inability to put the email fiasco behind her, coupled with her seeming reluctance to admit that Sanders is catching up and an unwillingness to address it.

"That said, I don't think it's going to be Bernie Sanders who takes down Hillary Clinton," O'Connell said, adding that Clinton is still the most hopeful to win the nomination.

"The real question for Clinton is how long can she continue to ignore him?" he said. Endi