Would Bernie Sanders Supporters Vote for Clinton?

bernie or bust

Will Sanders supporters vote for Clinton? The “Bernie or Bust” movement leaves it unlikely. (Getty)

With the June 7 primaries coming to a close and Clinton still commanding a pledged delegate lead at the time of publication, talk is turning to a contested Democratic convention . Sanders and his supporters are still ready to fight for him, all the way to a contested convention. But if Sanders ultimately didn’t get the nomination, would his supporters even consider voting for Clinton?

Here’s what you need to know.

Sanders supporters are divided on whether or not they would support Clinton in the end. Some are in the “Vote Blue No Matter Who” camp and believe it’s more important to have a Democrat in office and avoid a Donald Trump presidency. So some voters are ready to unite behind whoever the Democratic candidate is.

Meanwhile, supporters who are in the “Bernie or Bust” camp don’t feel the same way.

These supporters have shared that they are tired of “politics as usual,” and aren’t buying into the idea that Republicans must be defeated no matter what. In fact, they believe that mindset is part of the reason why the status quo never changes. They aren’t going for the “Vote Blue No Matter Who” motto.

On Reddit, one supporter of Sanders wrote:

“If Donald Trump gets elected, so be it, let that be a lesson to both parties. They’ve been coasting for far too long on the idea of ‘AT LEAST WE’RE NOT THEM SO VOTE FOR US.’ Her entire campaign is going to boil down to that, and just that.”

A recent poll showed that 25 percent of Sanders supporters would not vote for Clinton. In a discussion about the poll on Reddit, one person who is planning to vote for Clinton wrote: “My openness to a Clinton vote is admittedly shaky. If Clinton extends a willingness to work with Sanders, and many of his policies are adopted, I’m willing to vote for her. But if he’s rejected then I will abandon the Democratic party. That’s where I’m at.”

Twitter has been overtaken with Sanders supporters who are committing to not support Clinton, no matter what President Barack Obama has to say to Bernie Sanders when they meet on Thursday:

Right now, Sanders supporters are still waiting on the final votes in California and are ready to push to a contested convention in July. But they seem to also be open to the idea of Bernie running as a third-party candidate if the possibility presented itself later. How exactly they will be voting and what they will do next remains to be seen.