Sanders endorsement of Clinton disappoints backers, who wanted convention fight

He’s with her. But are his followers?

Beie Sanders’ much-anticipated endorsement of Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, July 12, provided the symbolic moment sought by the Democratic Party. But the sight of Sanders with his arm around a candidate who represents everything they despise did anything but inspire his most ardent supporters.

“It’s kind of like disbelief (and) a little bit of disgust,” said Alex Milledge, a 23-year-old from Brea who is part of OC Milleials for Beie.

“An endorsement based on fear of Donald Trump is not the sort of platform that we all came on board with,” said Joey Aszterbaum, a 41-year-old from Hemet who is a Sanders delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia later this month.

“We’re not voting out of fear. We’re voting out of love and things we want to see.”

“(The endorsement) will demoralize a lot of his delegates and supporters,” Aszterbaum added. “I don’t think it was the right move.”

Sanders’ endorsement at a New Hampshire rally followed more than a year of sometimes heated campaigning against Clinton. The Vermont senator’s independent streak and embrace of democratic socialism did surprisingly well, especially with whites, independents and young voters who gravitated toward Sanders’ message of economic equality, health care for all and contempt for Wall Street and billionaires.

His campaign won more than 20 states and forced Clinton to embrace more liberal stances. But in the end, she won more votes, more states and more delegates, becoming the first woman in American history to be the presidential nominee for a major political party.

Sanders, who campaigned furiously in Califoia to keep his longshot hopes alive, attacked Clinton as beholden to corporate interests. Clinton, in tu, criticized Sanders for not doing enough to support gun control and making unrealistic statements with few details.

After Califoia polls closed June 7, Sanders vowed to carry his fight to the convention in Philadelphia in late July, even though early retus showed Clinton with a big lead. She eventually won Califoia by 7 percentage points, although she and Sanders both won delegates.

Platform changes

While many Democrats believe Sanders should have endorsed Clinton months ago, the timing “is clearly intended to encourage Sanders’ supporters to vote for Clinton in the fall,” said Marcia Godwin, an associate professor of political science at the University of La Vee.

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“Sanders is able to declare some success in influencing the Democratic Party platform, which is unusual for the ruer-up. The aouncement also takes media coverage away from the Trump campaign ahead of the Republican convention (which starts next week).”

Califoia Democratic Party Chairman John Burton spelled out the draft platform’s more progressive elements.

“The platform committee endorsed positions that line up with what Americans believe about the need to reform Wall Street, expand Social Security, regulate carbon emissions, support the $15 minimum wage, expand the eaed income tax credit to help working people, and end mass incarceration,” Burton said.

“We invite supporters of both Secretary Clinton and Sen. Sanders to join us and put their energy into wiing the White House and taking back Congress.”

The endorsement gives a psychological OK for Sanders supporters to vote for Clinton, said Jeifer Walsh, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Azusa Pacific University.

“It is also likely that many of Sanders’ supporters will simply sit out this election,” Walsh said. “High voter tuout was what won Obama the election in 2008 and what tilted Congressional elections in favor of the Democrats.

“A lowered tuout for Democrats may not keep Clinton from wiing the White House,” Walsh added. “But the disappointed Beie voters who skip the ballot in November could mean fewer Democratic victories in tight House and Senate races.”

A recent Field Poll showed Clinton with a 30-point lead over Trump. And Califoia’s electoral votes haven’t gone to a Republican presidential candidate since 1988.

‘Not for sale’

Sanders supporters in Southe Califoia say what drew them to his candidacy was the message, not the man.

“It was never really about him,” said Travis Traber, a 22-year-old from Lake Elsinore who is a Sanders convention delegate. “It was really about starting this revolution and this movement that we had.”

Traber said when he listened to Sanders’ speech Tuesday, he heard Sanders say “I” when he normally says “we.”

“We need to make sure that we vote for the most progressive (Democratic Party) platform and to hold the Clinton administration accountable,” said Traber, adding he’s undecided about who he’ll vote for in November.

Milledge and Mary “Aleece” DePuey, a 49-year-old Sanders delegate from Moreno Valley, believe Sanders was forced to endorse his rival.

“We are disappointed Beie didn’t keep his word of fighting until the convention,” DePuey said. “We understand that he was under terrible pressure from the Democratic Party and under threat of being marginalized in the Senate if he didn’t endorse.

“We are grateful for his campaign, as it unified diverse groups, voters, and constituencies. As a movement, we will continue to fight for those principles, and we will now tu to electing officials that share our vision at all levels of govement.”

The mother of a Marine deployed to the Middle East, DePuey said she could not “in good conscience” vote for Clinton, who “has shown a history of having no problem putting (my son) and his brothers and sisters in uniform in harm’s way.”

“ ... My vote is not for sale and no one, not even Beie, can convince me or most other progressives who know the issues to vote for Mrs. Clinton.”

Milledge is supporting Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, who called Sanders the latest in a series of reformers to be undermined by the Democratic Party.

“I call on the tens of millions inspired by Beie Sanders’ call for political revolution, the 60 percent of Americans who want a new major party, and the independents who outnumber both Democrats and Republicans to reject the self-defeating strategy of voting for the lesser evil and join our fight for the greater good,” Stein said in a news release.

But a Pew Research Center poll released last week showed that 85 percent of Democrats who voted for Sanders in the primaries said they’ll vote for Clinton in November. And political observers predict most of Sanders’ 12 million primary voters will back the former secretary of state.

“Why? Two words: Donald Trump,” said Jack Pitney, a professor of politics at Claremont McKea College. “Even though they may be suspicious of Wall Street and free trade, they will not embrace a candidate who has retweeted material from neo-Nazis.”

BY THE NUMBERS

A look at the support behind Hillary Clinton and Beie Sanders.

• 15.8 million: The rough number of votes Clinton has received in Democratic state primaries.

• 12 million: The approximate number of Sanders primary votes.

• 2,807: Including superdelegates, the number of Clinton delegates to the Democratic National Convention; 2,383 are needed to win the nomination.

• 1,894: The number of Sanders delegates, including superdelegates.

• 170: The number of Califoia delegates won by Clinton in the June 7 state primary.

• 147: The number of state delegates won by Sanders.

Sources: RealClearPolitics, The Associated Press, Califoia Democratic Party.

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