Bernie Sanders supporters are voting for the Democratic candidate in California in contrasting moods of resignation, defiance and hope in the wake of reports that Hillary Clinton has amassed enough delegates to clinch the party’s presidential nomination.
They turned up at polling stations across the state on Tuesday morning to back the Vermont senator despite growing pressure on him to concede defeat and clear Clinton’s path to battle Donald Trump in the general election.
Some expressed sorrow and a sense of deflation that Sanders appeared to have lost but hoped his influence would pull the party to the left. Others expressed indignation at the media for declaring the race over and said Sanders could yet sway superdelegates and secure the nomination at the party’s convention in July.
“I read last night that Hillary has enough superdelegates, but I don’t care. Even if he doesn’t get the nomination, it’s the start of a new movement, a new way of thinking,” said Monica Egbuonu, 54, a physical therapist, after voting in Santa Monica.
Monica Egbuonu, Bernie voter. 'I read Hillary has enough delegates. I don't care. It's the start of a new movement.' pic.twitter.com/rhmCLqKIRb
— Rory Carroll (@rorycarroll72) June 7, 2016
Paul Byrne, 55, an aerospace consultant, predicted fellow Sanders supporters would still flock to the polls. “The Bernie supporters I know, I think it’ll energize them. They’ll see it as a challenge.”
Brittany Rowles, 26, traveling on the train after voting for Sanders, bristled at the media calling the race for Clinton.
“The math doesn’t add up. She doesn’t have the proper number of delegates. I think the people in power, with money, are funding these media organizations to perpetuate their ideas and keep themselves in power.”
The perception that she and other voters had been ignored only galvanized her desire to vote. “I believe in what I think is right. I’m still going to vote for what I think is right. I don’t want the media to determine what I feel. I have a voice! Speak out!”
Other Sanders supporters used social media to accuse media outlets of attempting to rig the vote.
@AP thanks for exposing yourselves as an enemy of democracy with your blatant #VoterSuppression tactics #iVoted for @SenSanders despite you
— Randall Head (@RandallHead) June 7, 2016
Some tweeted the famous photo of Harry Truman holding a banner newspaper headline which inaccurately declared his loss to Thomas Dewey in 1948.
Press to call it for Hillary June 7. Meh. #eggonyourface @ap @cnn @msnbc #feelthebern #dropouthillary pic.twitter.com/aVYBIKAP4y
— ChuckRoc (@CharlieHipHop) May 27, 2016
The Associated Press declared late on Monday that the former secretary of state had won the support of the 2,383 delegates needed to clinch the nomination, an unexpected twist on the eve of voting on Tuesday in California plus New Jersey, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and New Mexico.
The Sanders campaign called the announcement a “rush to judgment” which ignored the Democratic National Committee’s rule to count superdelegate votes only at the convention, not before.
The AP’s announcement appeared to also surprise Clinton’s campaign, which did not publicly celebrate lest supporters conclude there was no need to vote. The former first lady’s campaign is expected to wait until voting ends on Tuesday before declaring her the Democratic nominee-in-waiting at a victory party in New York.
It was an anti-climactic way to herald the first woman in history to lead a major party bid for the White House – and to possibly begin closing the curtain on an insurgent campaign by a self-described independent socialist who has electrified progressives across the US.
“It’s pretty sad that AP called it,” said Armen Melkonians, 45, a civil engineer, queuing at a polling station in Santa Monica – a wealthy, liberal Los Angeles enclave dubbed the People’s Republic of Santa Monica.
Armen Melkonians, voting in Santa Monica, still feels the Bern. 'He can get super delegates. It's not set in stone.' pic.twitter.com/KFZ71e1EK1
— Rory Carroll (@rorycarroll72) June 7, 2016
He said Sanders could still nab the nomination by winning California and swaying superdelegates. “I’m hopeful the Bernie supporters will still show up and vote for him, follow it through.”
“But I think the AP announcement will be a dampener,” he added. “And that it was intended to be a dampener.”
Melkonians said the media had reflected the political and financial establishment’s bias against a candidate who wanted to shake up Wall Street and campaign finance rules and soak billionaires. “We are governed by a small number of individuals and corporations. Voters and residents have been pushed to the bottom.”
Byrne, the aerospace engineer, was resigned to Sanders’ defeat. “I voted for him because he has managed to pull the Democratic party to the left. But I fully expect that Clinton will be the candidate and I’m OK with that. She’ll have my support in November.”
Egbuonu, the physical therapist, said the specter of Trump, the Republican presumptive nominee, would steel her to back Clinton. “The lesser of two evils.” But she hoped Sanders would continue to fight until the convention. “It’s important for him to take it as far as he can. For him to drop out now would leave people feeling voiceless.”
She dismissed concerns that a prolonged intra-party battle would hobble Clinton against Trump. “I’ve no doubt that come July, [Sanders] will throw his weight behind her.”
Turner Willman, 26 and a community media activist, was dispirited on the train in San Francisco on Tuesday morning.
“I feel like my vote has been disregarded. It doesn’t feel democratic. It feels like a media stunt to discourage people from actually voting ... But especially voting today, after that announcement, it sends a really strong message that we’re not going to accept it.”
Sharyn Dimmick, a 58-year-old busker, planned to vote when she headed home after playing guitar and singing in the train station in downtown Berkeley. She will vote for Sanders. She did not care about AP’s announcement.
“I am going to vote anyway,” she said, from her spot by the escalators, as commuters streamed by early Tuesday. “It’s not my favorite thing, but it’s not new. It’s announced every week, ‘Oh, Bernie Sanders can’t win.’ ‘Hillary Clinton has the nomination, everyone knows it.’ Well, we don’t know it.”
The worst thing, she said, is that “announcements like that breed apathy. If people don’t seek out independent news information, it encourages them to think that there’s no chance.”
Dimmick said she talked with her partner about what to sing on election day before deciding on a Woody Guthrie. She strummed her battered guitar and began:
“This land is your land, this land is my land, from California to the New York island. From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters, this land was made for you and me.”
