Norwich
Upper Valley supporters of Hillary Clinton, however, contend Sanders’ continuing campaign and aggressive rhetoric are damaging the likely nominee’s prospects in the general election, especially since the Republican race already has been decided in Donald Trump’s favor.
“I’m still hoping that Bernie’s going to pull it out and be able to win it,” Norwich resident Carol Owen said before the town’s Memorial Day parade on Sunday. “I think he’s the best candidate for the job.”
Owen, 55, said she’s impressed with Sanders’ performance in the Senate. If Clinton claims the nomination as expected, she hopes Sanders would consider an independent run for the White House.
“I would definitely be behind him,” she said.
Sanders himself admitted winning the nomination is a “steep goal” in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times. Clinton currently leads by significant margins in both the delegate count and popular vote.
Sanders would need to rely on superdelegates — the hundreds of party insiders who have a say in the process and who already are pledged Clinton — to overcome her lead.
Janet Dow, of Tunbridge, said she is still rooting for Sanders, who she said is not the “typical politician,” which is how she sees Clinton.
“I would like to see him in the presidency and see what he can do,” Dow, 37, said.
Her husband, Chris, also supports Sanders but is more skeptical of his chances.
“I think he’s biting off more than he can chew with this election,” Chris Dow, a retired veteran, said.
“It’s a big jump for him, from where he’s been up to what he’s trying to do,” he said. He added he’s likely unlikely to vote for Clinton in November.
There are still nine Democratic primary contests left, including two of the largest — California and New Jersey — next Tuesday. (The last contest is the District of Columbia on June 14.)
According to the polling website FiveThirtyEight, Clinton leads comfortably in both the Golden State and the Garden State.
Hanover State Rep. Sharon Nordgren said she’s disappointed in the aggressiveness of the Sanders campaign, which is forcing Clinton to fight on two fronts after Republicans all but conceded to Trump, who has since moved to coalesce Republican support.
“I don’t think continuing his campaign is a problem, I think his attacks are,” she said in a phone interview. “I think there’s a way to be congenial.”
Nordgren credited Sanders with drawing new and energetic voters to the polls, but hopes they can reconcile political differences once the convention chooses a nominee.
“I hope that as in 2008, we come together as a party,” she said.
It was eight years ago when Clinton was in Sanders’ position, trailing by an insurmountable deficit in the delegate count but still refusing to abandon her campagin.
Deb Nelson, Hanover’s Democratic party chairwoman, said she always expected Republicans would attack Clinton hard, but didn’t expect the primary to be so tumultuous. When she canvassed for Clinton in New Hampshire, Nelson said, she spoke with many Sanders supporters who said they would vote for Clinton in the fall.
“I don’t think in all that time they imagined (Sanders) would be where he is now,” she said.
Nelson said she hopes the prospect of a Trump presidency will bring the most progressive Democrats and also independents together for Clinton in the general election.
“My mother is 93 and begins and ends every phone conversation with me with ‘What is going on in this country?’ ” Nelson said. “She is disgusted by Donald Trump.”
Although they’re still hoping Sanders can pull off a primary win, both T.J. and Audrey Micca, of Quechee, said they plan on voting Democratic, regardless of who wins the nomination.
“I just think that my views are more aligned with Hillary Clinton than Trump’s,” T.J. Micca, 26, said.
“I don’t think we need to build a giant wall and kick out all the immigrants,” he said, referencing Trump’s immigration proposals concerning Mexico.
Clinton supporter Reeve Williams, a former Hanover High School teacher, said the intra-party battles Democrats are fighting ultimately are more constructive than destructive.
“I’m very glad that Bernie is in the race because I think he is really pulling the Democratic Party in the directions that I think are important,” he said. “I think, right now, I’m more concerned about the fact that if we ever have a Trump presidency, we would be in serious trouble.”
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.
Correction
The Democratic presidential primary in Washington, D.C., is being held on June 14. An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect date for the event.