Ending an at-times bitter and contentious Democratic primary, Bernie Sanders endorsed Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, asking his supporters to turn their attention to putting the former secretary of state in the White House – but to bear in mind the issues on which he campaigned.
“The profound lesson I have learned is that this campaign is not about Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump, this campaign is about the needs of the American people and addressing the very serious crises that we face,” Sanders said.
After the pair appeared at the joint rally, the Guardian asked Sanders supporters: what now?
We received 375 responses on readers’ plans for their November vote. And despite the show of solidarity with Clinton on Tuesday, Sanders’ fans aren’t all convinced the presumptive Democratic nominee is who they will now support: Green party nominee Jill Stein was the most popular among reader respondents, with 171 new supporters, more than double the number who said they would move their support to Clinton.
A write-in vote for Sanders was also a popular option, with just 20 respondents opting for Trump. These results aren’t necessarily a representative sample, and they differ significantly from a Pew Research Center poll released Wednesday, which found that 85% of Sanders supporters intended to vote for Clinton. Below, 10 readers explain their choices.
Landon Swartz, 25, Texas: Hillary Clinton
Lynn Burke, 57, Virginia: Donald TrumpBetween the two mainstream party candidates, Hillary Clinton is the most predictable: Trump is a dangerous unknown, and neither of the third-party candidates will garner the votes necessary to mount a successful insurgent campaign.
Zachary Berger, 24, New Jersey: Jill Stein or Bernie SandersTrump may be inexperienced, but he is not deceptive. It will take him time to learn how government operates but he will have a heavy check on his power by Congress. Clinton has planned this grab for power for years. It is terrifying to think of what she will do in office. Her web has been woven throughout government and there could be no check on her – as we just learned with the corruption of the DoJ and FBI.
The only candidate still in this race that even comes close to representing my political beliefs and the American public at large is Jill Stein. I don’t believe in selecting a lesser of two evils when there are more than two options to choose from. Stein isn’t the perfect candidate and I have concerns about some of her stances, including vaccinations, but she’s a progressive whose platform would benefit the middle and lower classes. Hillary says she’s a progressive, but her largest campaign donors are the big banks, she was extremely late to the game on marriage equality, and the TPP would be a disaster for working-class Americans. I can’t support her. Bernie Sanders is my hero and likely always will be. I fully understand his decision to endorse Clinton today, but I won’t be doing the same.
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