Democrats in New Mexico still have some way to go if they want complete party unity, at least if the party’s post-primary convention is any indication.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez and other party leaders received a less-than-warm welcome from supporters of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders at the Democratic Party of New Mexico’s gathering.
The newspaper reported that Sanders supporters chanted, “Bernie or bust!” while Sanchez spoke. This is the chant of those who say they will only support Bernie Sanders and not Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee.
Clinton is the presumptive nominee and Sanders has taken steps toward himself supporting Clinton against Donald Trump this November. Still, a bloc of Sanders supporters believes the Clinton is not a better choice than the presumptive Republican nominee.
As Steve Terrell wrote for the New Mexican:
If nothing else, the outbursts show that healing the Democratic Party divide between the Clinton and Sanders factions will be easier said than done.
Clinton narrowly defeated Sanders in the June 7 New Mexico primary.
Sanders supporters also criticized the party’s superdelegate system, which allows elected officials and party officials to cast delegate votes not bound by election results for whichever candidate they choose. All nine of the superdelegates who live in New Mexico backed Clinton.
Sanders delegates that Terrell spoke to were circumspect about their potential to support Clinton.
Whether this is a trend or just a snapshot of some of the most hardcore Sanders supporters isn’t known.
A poll conducted for ABC News and the Washington Post showed that Trump isn’t getting a lot of Sanders supporters; just 8 percent of self-identified Sanders supporters said they would vote for Trump.
A full 88 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents in the poll said that they would vote for Clinton.
A 2008 exit poll showed Democrats who voted for Clinton in the primary backed Obama 83 percent to 16 percent. Exit polls are typically considered not as accurate as other polling.
In 2008, some vocal Clinton supporters who called themselves PUMAs (initially the name came from “Party Unity My Ass, but it was later softened to “People United Means Action”) vowed to oppose Barack Obama after the Democratic primary that was even closer than the 2016 results.
