Fox’s Your World showcased a Bernie Sanders supporter who suggested Donald Trump is a better alternative for liberals than Hillary Clinton. There was no attempt to report on how typical he is.
Sanders supporter Harlan Hill was the guest in a discussion about the possibility of a contested Democratic convention. Host Neil Cavuto sounded excited at the prospect, asking, “Could the Democrats be the ones facing the contested convention?”
Near the end of the interview, Cavuto asked Hill if he’d vote for Clinton.
“Under no circumstances,” was the answer.
“I could stay home,” Hill said. “I know I’ve spoken to a lot of Bernie Sanders supporters that have said that they might stay home. They’re predominately young, had previously supported Barack Obama. I am in that camp, and so we may either stay home or we might cross over for the right Republican.”
When asked who “the right Republican" might be, Hill mentioned Donald Trump. “They think he’s on the far right, but when you look at what he says about foreign policy and doing some nation building at home and what he says about labor and trade, I think he can convince a lot of Democrats to cross over for him,” Hill said.
“Very interesting, very interesting,” Cavuto replied.
Tommy Christopher dug into the numbers at about this time in the 2008 election season and found that there were higher numbers of Clinton supporters who said they would not vote for Barack Obama and vice versa than there are now for Clinton and Sanders supporters. So while it’s possible some Sanders supporters may stay home or cross over, Fox probably shouldn’t start planning a Trump victory party based on them just yet.
Watch it below, from the April 8 Your World.
It’s likely that some of his supporters wouldn’t have voted had he not been a candidate now, but I don’t know that they’ll stay out of the situation once involved in it. Some probably. And some will vote Green.
I’ve just been fascinated how far Trump has polarized the Republican voters. I’m more convinced that Cruz supporters will never vote for Trump than I am that Bernie voters will never vote for Clinton.
Oh, well. I can’t wait until it’s over.
Fixed that for ya, Ellen. :)
@ David Lindsay: “. . . the Bernie enthusiasts are almost militant sometimes. Makes me wonder how many of them might be republican trolls.”
How to easily identify a Bernie enthusiast who’s a repub troll:
- calls Hillary a “liar” (without stating what she lied about)
- says she should go to prison (forgetting the fact she hasn’t been arrested or indicted for anything)
- mentions any or all of the following: Vince Foster, Whitewater, Travelgate, Filegate, Monica, or pantsuits
.
Let’s be very honest about what’s happening here. The GOP is terrified at the prospect of Donald Trump actually being their nominee. They’re fully aware of the seriousness of the consequences. So it makes sense that they’re turning to any magical thinking that can ward off the coming disaster. Sure, let’s trot out the “Clinton’s about to be Indicted” trope. Let’s trot out the “Sanders is winning” trope. And now let’s trot out the old “The Democrats are more divided than we are!” trope. All of them have about the same relation to reality. Namely, none.
After next Tuesday, Clinton will have expanded her lead back up to at least 250 delegates. After the following Tuesday, her lead will likely be up past 350 again, if not higher. There will not be a contested Democrat convention.
And I agree that a small number of Sanders voters will refuse to vote for Clinton in November, particularly after the polls show enough of a lead in front of Trump that they can do so in comfort. These will not be the younger voters, who Sanders will ask to support Clinton. These will be the much older Sanders supporters who voted for McGovern back in 1972 and see this as one of their last chances to have a candidate they believe in. After the Dems have their convention, these voters will likely turn to Jill Stein and the Greens. But not in any numbers that would even bring Stein to the 5% level Nader almost hit in 2000. Just enough to show that some of the Sanders supporters wanted to make a point.
But Sanders voters all turning to Donald Trump? That’s actually spit-take funny.
I recall in 2008 that Neil had several guest who were Hillary supporters who said they would vote for John McCain over Obama.