(Bloomberg) -- The fierce loyalty Bernie Sanders inspires in his supporters is creating a dilemma for the Democratic Party.
For a sliver of Sanders’ base, it’s Bernie or bust. They may detest President Donald Trump, but they didn’t vote for Hillary Clinton and they’re not sure they’ll back the Democratic nominee in 2020 if Sanders isn’t on the ballot. They’re willing do whatever it takes to push the party to adopt his ideas.
"It’s a pretty small minority of his support," said Neil Sroka, a spokesman for the liberal activist group Democracy For America."But when you’re dealing with an election that was as close in terms of raw votes in 2016, every vote matters. And so that matters." Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir said one of the Vermont senator’s strengths is to inspire disaffected Americans, particularly young people, “who didn’t vote for Hillary Clinton or sat out the 2016 election” to get to voting booths next year.
The die-hard Sanders fans often describe politics as a binary struggle between a wealthy ruling class and ordinary workers who are being exploited, and they see centrist Democrats as part of the problem. And they’re wholly unpersuaded by the argument that they should vote for a moderate Democrat over a Republican as the lesser of two evils.
"The folks who are hardcore Bernie-only people — a good amount of that stems from the way they feel Bernie Sanders was mistreated in the 2016 primary by the Democratic establishment," Democracy for America’s Sroka said."If there’s a fair and open process this time, that can repair a lot of those relationships. I think we’re seeing that so far."
Joe Trippi, a Democratic strategist and veteran of presidential campaigns, said it’s"way too early to know" how the Bernie-or-bust phenomenon will shape 2020.
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