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Poll: Half Of Bernie Sanders Supporters Will Not Vote For Hillary Clinton

A recent poll conducted by Bloomberg News shows that nearly half of those who said they supported Senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential primary will not be voting for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the general election.

According to respondents, the central issue was trust. Many Sanders supporters, like most Americans, do not find Hillary Clinton to be trustworthy. “As some Sanders fans see it, the primary was not a simple preference for purity over pragmatism, but a moral choice between an honest figure and someone whom they consider fundamentally corrupted by the ways of Washington.”

The poll comes as more evidence from the “Guccifer 2.0” hack shows that the Democratic National Committee was preparing a more conservative campaign before Sanders entered the race, highlighting, among other things, Clinton’s role in crafting the controversial Transpacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. The trade deal has become so toxic to working class voters that Clinton has since disavowed it.

So whether the issue is principles or character, it looks as though those among the large group of Democrats who supported Sanders in the primary may not be voting for Clinton in the fall.

Former Secretary Clinton’s path to victory may not include the left of the Democratic Party in any case. The Clinton campaign is making overtures to Republican Party voters antagonistic to presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and has already secured direct support of the neoconservative wing of the GOP.

With most of the Democratic Party and sizable portion of the GOP as her potential base, Clinton may be able to overcome her severe problem with independent voters and win the presidency.

A Clinton coalition of corporate Democrats and corporate Republicans succeeding in the election would likely lead to a government that cuts Social Security and Medicare, while starting new wars in the Middle East and beyond.

Under a Clinton Administration, the only real issues of contention will likely be cultural issues, such as abortion and gun control. In other words, Clinton represents a continuation of the status quo in a country facing widening inequality, imperial decline, and increasing dysfunction and disunity at the hands of a kleptocratic elite.

Dan Wright

Dan Wright

Daniel Wright is a longtime blogger and currently writes for Shadowproof. He lives in New Jersey, by choice.