What a difference a percentage point makes — especially when all you’ve got is one or two of them.
To qualify for what will be a supersized Democratic debate this month, presidential candidates had to receive at least 2 percent support in four polls sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee, as well as donations from at least 130,000 unique supporters. Some polled far higher than 2 percent, while others only just cleared the bar.
When survey results are that low, they are said to be within the “margin of error” of zero, meaning there’s technically a chance the candidate has close to no support at all. CONT.
Giovanni Russonello, New York Times