Don’t Assume Bernie Sanders Supporters Will Back Hillary Clinton If She’s The Nominee - HuffPo

[WillyT]

Don’t Assume Bernie Sanders Supporters Will Back Hillary Clinton If She’s The Nominee
Some of the Vermont senator's fans would rather not vote -- or even vote for Donald Trump -- than vote for Hillary.
Samantha-Jo Roth - HuffPo
03/02/2016 05:21 pm ET


Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has many supporters who wouldn't shift their loyalty to Hillary Clinton if she triumphs over him in the Democratic presidential primary.
ASSOCIATED PRESS

<snip>

ST. PAUL, Minnesota -- A horde of Bernie Sanders supporters at a local pub were watching closely as the Super Tuesday election results rolled in, a few booing as Hillary Clinton’s smiling face, accompanied by a green check mark, repeatedly flashed across the screens.

When they learned their candidate had beaten Hillary Clinton in Minnesota, taking the largest share of the state’s available delegates, they chanted and cheered the Vermont senator’s name -- and many vowed never to support his opponent, even if she goes on to win the Democratic nomination.

“I will never support Hillary Clinton,” said Adam Burch, 28, of Minneapolis. “I identify as a socialist. She stands for everything that I’m against. It’s Bernie or nothing.”

Burch isn’t alone. He's part of a group on social media called Grassroots Action for Bernie that has promised to support only Sanders in the election, using the hashtag “BernieorBust” to spread its message. Similarly, 50,000 people have signed an online pledge to write in Sanders’ name or vote for the Green Party candidate in the general election if the former Secretary of State wins the nomination.

If that happens, some in this crowd are willing to go a step further in the general election and cast their ballot for Republican front-runner Donald Trump.

“I would vote for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in a heartbeat,” said Patt Coltem, 60, of St. Paul. “She’s just too shady. She’s a pathological liar."

Although the Democratic front-runner has adopted much of Sanders’ platform, Coltem acknowledges that she cannot vote for Clinton. Clinton is still the establishment-backed candidate, and her ties to Wall Street and refusal to release transcripts of her paid speeches is feeding a growing mistrust among voters. Coltem said Donald Trump’s outsider status makes him a little bit more appealing.

"He’s the only other person in this race who doesn’t have someone backing him,” Coltem explained. “Trump is crazy; he does a lot of weird stuff. I would prefer not to vote for him for president, but that’s how much I dislike Hillary Clinton.”

Not all Bernie Sanders supporters agree. Some admitted they would vote for Clinton if she won the Democratic nomination because they’d like to see another Democrat in the White House...

<snip>

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-supporters-wont-vote-hillary_us_56d7571ae4b0871f60edb9fe

[daleanime]

1. K&R.....

[yourpaljoey]

2. She has made no attempt to EARN our vote... I find that surprising

[casperthegm]

7. Me too

If we've chosen to support Bernie it's because we see clear differences in his policies and the actions he's taken compared to Clinton. If she becomes the nominee she has a lot of work to do in order to bridge that gap. And I'm not sure how she does it.

I mean, she's voted how she's voted and she's done what she's done. The record is there. People have issues with that, so how does she convince anyone to look beyond it? Argue it's for the "greater good?" Sorry, if you think Sanders supporters are sheep who will just go along with the party line, overlooking overwhelming flaws in the democratic candidate I think Clinton is going to be quite disappointed.

[Betty Karlson]

3. She is a liability and a GE disaster waiting to happen.

Happily, we still have a reliable (would beat every GOP opponent) alternative at hand.

[sufrommich]

4. Every single poll that has asked Bernie supporters if they

will support the eventual democratic nominee if it's not Sanders says otherwise. They give a resounding yes,contrary to the Sanders supporters running around the internet saying they won't.

[WillyT]

8. It All Depends On If The Support Is Soft Or Strong... Is "Resounding" 99% Or 58% Or 32% ???

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. Fortunately, I will have other candidates on my ballot if Trump and Hillary are nominated.

Certainly ones far more progressive than either of them.

[beachbum bob]

6. there will always be sour grapes by those who end up supporting the losing nominee

we heard all the same rubbish about hillary supporters when Obama clearly was going to be our nominee and in the end, they supported obama....because indifference would have given america Mccain/palin....which would have been 100x worse than Bush/cheney....I expect sanders will be in support of our nominee....and his supporters have their choice....letting a conservative take the whitehouse over their own selfish perspectives. Nader supporters had no problem allowing america to be trashed...and there will be some sander supporters who won't care either....

[JaneyVee]

9. Thats ODD. People here told me no such thing as BernieOrBust.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511401396

Amazing how people are even writing articles about something that clearly doesnt exist.

[amborin]

10. A Clinton nomination means a Trump presidency; #BernieIs45

[one_voice]

11. If someone that supports Bernie Sanders..

crosses over and votes for Donald Trump--that says more about them than it does about Hillary Clinton.

Post all the pictures/clips/soundbites 'bout Hillary you want--going from Bernie to Donald is some fucked up shit.

If that happens, some in this crowd are willing to go a step further in the general election and cast their ballot for Republican front-runner Donald Trump.

“I would vote for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in a heartbeat,” said Patt Coltem, 60, of St. Paul. “She’s just too shady. She’s a pathological liar."

Ok, Donald is a pillar of honesty,virtue and fairness.

Not sure who I'm voting for in my primary but I'm damn sure voting for the Dem nominee in the GE.

[xocet]

18. You are correct. Not all of Sen. Sanders' supporters come from Democrats, though.

That is the problem in the GE if it is Sec. Clinton against Donald Trump. Sen. Sanders' policies and Trump's policies would be fundamentally different, but their respective messages are both essentially anti-establishment messages. So, it should not be surprising that non-Democrats who might support Sen. Sanders could possibly shift to Trump if they were faced with an establishment candidate instead of Sen. Sanders. Clearly, some potential voters see Sec. Clinton as an establishment candidate - a candidate that FauxNews (et al.) have been working tirelessly for about 20 years to destroy: this negative bias against Sec. Clinton (whether earned or not) will also be a problem in the general election.

At least, that is what the situation that you mentioned seems to be in my opinion.

[Jitter65]

12. But we already knew that, didn't we? nt

[Starry Messenger]

13. I thought we were big meanies if we asked about this?

[Octafish]

14. I'll vote for Ms. Clinton if she's the nominee, but that report is very troubling.

It supports the idea that young people -- especially politically active young people -- won't get moved into action by rhetoric alone.

[DefenseLawyer]

15. Democratic Primary voters aren't going to be the problem.

The percentage of general election voters that take part in primaries is tiny.

[SidDithers]

16. ...

Sid

[brentspeak]

17. At this point, even HRC's paid social media flunkies don't bother to defend her honesty

It's a given within Hillary's own campaign that, indeed, she is a "shady character".

But voting for Trump is not an option.

The best option is that HRC drops out or is otherwise defeated in the primary by Bernie.