They gathered inside the Amsterdam, a craft beer bar in St. Pete’s EDGE district set to shutter in a few days. Patrons issued condolences to the bartender, but for the cause that brought them there that night, which many consider a lost one, they cheered.
It was primary night in California, New Jersey and several other states. These supporters of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a presidential contender who struck a loud chord among progressive activists in his quest to defeat Secretary Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, weren’t giving up on their dream.
Not now.
“This is fucking revolutionary,” Mike Fox, a top Sanders supporter and delegate, told the riled-up crowd. “Nobody thought that it would get this far.”
As the night unfolded, it seemed clear that Clinton was going to pick up the bulk of the delegates up for grabs, thus arriving within striking distance of the nomination, but not to the dozens of Sanders supporters there. They railed against the Associated Press, which prematurely called the election for Clinton Monday, and cheered when they saw Sanders take a commanding lead in North Dakota, the smallest cache of delegates at stake that night.
But even if Sanders was failing to close the gap, Fox said, the positives of the journey to get Sanders this far are many. Plus, it ain’t over.
“We cannot be discouraged in any way,” he said. “This is nothing but positive energy.”
But going into the June 14 Washington, D.C. primary, the math is a little rough for Sanders supporters.
Clinton’s pledged delegates outnumber those of Sanders 2,184 to 1,804.
She needs 198 more to reach the magic 2,382 threshold to officially nail down the nomination; Sanders needs twice that.
The D.C. primary offers some 20 delegates, and then there are the so-called superdelegates — mostly elected officials and party leaders. According to RealClearPolitics.com, as of Wednesday, 571 of the available 712 unpledged delegates are backing Clinton.
But since she doesn’t yet have the 2,382, Sanders supporters vow to take the fight to Philadelphia in July for the Democratic National Convention, which they say will be contested whether party leaders like it or not.
“We are in the game. We are fighting all the way to Philly,” said Amos Miers of Tampa Bay for Bernie. “Either one of the candidates had to win 100 percent tonight, and neither candidate did that. Neither one clinched the nomination because they didn’t reach a certain number. Superdelegates come into play here. They didn’t vote yet. They vote in July.”
Ironically, just months ago, Sanders supporters decried use of superdelegates as an affront to democracy and a way for party elites to control the process.
Now, with the popular vote out of their grasp, superdelegates are their only hope, albeit a distant one.
“A lot of these superdelegates pledged to Hillary before Bernie entered the race,” Miers said. “That’s one. Two, a lot of these superdelegates were given money by Hillary to run their campaigns, so she’s paid for these superdelegates. So, that’s another question to raise.”
The hope is that party leaders and elected officials will see the passion and momentum among Sanders supporters as well as his ability to inspire previously disenchanted voters to get involved and change their votes. Plus, they often note, Sanders has done better against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in national polls. There might even be an unlikely scenario that would compel them to.
“Am I saying she’s going to be indicted?” Fox, who isn’t a fan of superdelegates, said. “No. But if she were? There has to be something in place for the party to say, look, this isn’t viable. That’s my only justification for superdelegates.”
While Fox holds out hope for a Sanders nomination, he said he recognizes the likelihood that it won’t happen. And if it doesn’t work out, supporters see an obvious silver lining: Sanders’s unequivocal message of peace, social justice and economic equality has ignited a passion among millions that’s not going anywhere.
“We’ve made incredible progress overall regardless of whether he’s in office,” Miers said. “We’re turning that energy into a movement.”
As for who they’ll back in the general without Sanders (if he doesn’t run as an independent), social media posts suggesting Sanders supporters will vote for Trump over Clinton in protest are seen by this crowd as largely a myth.
“That’s way overblown,” Fox said. “It’s interesting for the media. It’s a sexy story. It’s just not realistic.”
This article appears in Jun 9-16, 2016.