White River Junction
“She’s just a part of the system, and she played the system perfectly,” said Heather Alger, sitting for a late breakfast at the Tuckerbox restaurant in downtown White River Junction.
“She’s a liar, if you look at the things she’s said and the things she’s done,” said John Grandi, a 28-year-old social worker from Windsor. “She’s a politician in the worst way.”
“Hillary is a bought-and-paid-for candidate,” said Brendan Deangelo, a 32-year-old Windsor resident who works for a nonprofit employment agency.
The sentiments are in line with the talking points used on conservative talk radio programs and by Republican political operatives to discredit Clinton, but Alger, Grandi and Deangelo aren’t conservatives.
They’re likely Clinton voters.
They represent a segment of liberal Democrats and other voters who don’t like Clinton — who has drawn fire for her use of a private email server as secretary of state and for making millions of dollars in speeches to Wall Street — but see her as the only alternative to presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, who they dislike even more.
This election is unusual in that the two major party nominees have historically high unfavorability ratings, with a recent tracking survey from NBC News showing that 60 percent of voters view Clinton unfavorably, while 62 percent view Trump unfavorably.
The tepid support for Clinton has been especially apparent in the Twin States, where Sanders enjoyed lopsided primary wins by taking 60.4 percent of the vote in New Hampshire (to 38 percent for Clinton), and 86.1 percent in Vermont (to 13.6 percent for Clinton).
Alger, who held multiple fundraising events for Sanders, said she actually has nothing against Clinton, but that Sanders’ exit from the race has left her with no options that she’s excited about.
“I’m disappointed and sad,” she said. “Obviously, the game won. Now, we have to play within those rules.”
Alger said that, while she knew of other Sanders supporters who felt that his loss to Clinton was unfair, she didn’t feel that way.
The Sanders supporters said that, though they plan to vote for Clinton, it would be difficult for the candidate to win their full-throated support.
“I just want for her to acknowledge what happened,” said Alger, “an acknowledgment of the uprising in support among young people.”
Grandi said nothing Clinton could say would excite him as did Sanders, who he called “the first presidential candidate that made me care about politics.”
Vermont’s primary was the first time he voted for a presidential candidate.
Deangelo said that, despite his enthusiasm for Sanders, he had planned to switch his vote to Clinton long before the endorsement.
“I already accepted it was over two or three months ago. I’ve fallen in line,” he said. “It will be great to have the first woman president.”
Deangelo said he expected many of his “uncompromising” Sanders-supporting friends to vote for a third-party candidate like Green Party nominee Jill Stein, or support Sanders through a write-in vote.
“Vermont is such a blue state anyway, their vote would do more good supporting a third party or making a statement than supporting Hillary,” he said. “Hillary’s going to smoke Donald anyway.”
But Grandi and Deangelo both said they thought the Sanders endorsement would help bring some of his supporters into her camp.
Other Democrats said they were happy to line up behind Clinton.
“I was a Bernie supporter,” said Quechee resident Dave Clark, who organizes music events in the area. “I think Hillary is the most qualified candidate in the history of the presidential primaries.”
Lea Chapman and her husband, Graham Atkins, of West Lebanon, have wrestled with the finer points of Clinton versus Sanders — they liked Sanders more, but saw Clinton as more likely to be able to implement policy.
“I would have been happy with either,” Chapman said. “I wish he had endorsed her a little earlier.
She probably has a bit more experience.”
Several of those interviewed said they were happy that Sanders and his strong showing had an influence on the policy positions of both Clinton and the platform of the Democratic National Committee.
“I think Bernie did a great job parlaying his power into changes for the DNC platform,” said Clark, citing support for the $15 minimum wage and free college tuition for most Americans.
Clark said Sanders still has work to do on the national stage concerning trade deals.
“They have not opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” he said. “He may have to take that to the convention floor.”
Grandi, the social worker from Windsor, said he was pleased President Obama won the White House in 2008 and 2012, but that he hadn’t felt motivated enough to vote until he was swept up by Sanders’ authenticity.
“This year I made sure to go out and vote for him. I felt good about it for once,” Grandi said. “Now I just feel crappy.”
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.