Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders won Rhode Island’s Democratic primary by more than 10 points, beating rival Hillary Clinton with the help of grass-roots and student-led efforts. But Sanders went on to lose the nomination, leaving his most ardent fans in something of a quandary.
On a crisp Saturday morning, Lauren Niedel stands at the exit of the Chepachet Transfer Station in Glocester, or more informally, the town dump. Most residents pass through here sooner or later, because Glocester has no trash pickup. Niedel hands out political flyers to passing cars.
This is Niedel’s first bid for elected office, but not her first foray into politics. During the presidential primary she served as the state contact for Bernie Sanders, helped organize the push to get him on the ballot, and was delegate for Sanders at the Democratic National Convention. Niedel said she was drawn to Sanders’ progressive brand of politics.
“And his honesty, his integrity, the way he stands up for the 99 percent, and his willingness to fight the good fight without worrying about his political future,” said Niedel.
But Sanders’ political future did not include becoming the Democratic party’s nominee this year, much to Niedel’s disappointment. She said she now faces a tough choice.
“It’s a toss-up between writing in Bernie Sanders and voting for Hillary Clinton.”
Most major polls show Clinton leading nationally, and Rhode Island hasn’t voted Republican since Ronald Reagan. So Niedel feels free to vote her conscience, as she considers a write-in vote for Sanders.
“My allegiance has always been with Bernie Sanders, and I have to consider my year and a half of work with Bernie Sanders, and where I align with on a holistic level,” said Niedel.
Niedel opposes Republican Donald Trump, but she also disagrees with some of Clinton’s positions, including her approach to foreign policy.
“She also has not come out against fracking, nor has she come out in support of the Native American indigenous people that are fighting the North Dakota access pipeline,” Neidel said.
Hillary Clinton has come out against some fracking, including projects opposed by state and local governments, according to the watchdog website Politifact.
But environmental issues are the key reason Niedel decide to run for Glocester town council. She’s opposed to the power plant proposed in nearby Burrillville, for fear of pollution to surrounding communities.
“So Bernie really did inspire me,” said Niedel. “For a few reasons, he really to really take action in environmental activism, and to represent the people, let the people choose who their voices are.”
Some former Sanders supporters are less reluctant about voting for Clinton.
“I think it’s kind of the choice between the lesser of two evils right now,” said Rohan Rastogi, a junior at Brown University who supported Sanders during his primary race.
Students and young people helped mobilize Sanders’ grassroots effort across the country, and helped propel the Senator to his win in the Ocean State.
“Clinton is a very good figure, but she’s not great at sentiment. She’s not great at being appealing,” said Rastogi, but he thinks most of his friends are now on the Clinton train.
“I’ll be voting for Clinton because it might seem like, oh I don’t agree with her, but there’s not really much option right now.”
Fellow Brown student, sophomore Aidan O’Shea, also voted for Sanders in the primary.
“All the people I know that supported Bernie, which were a lot of people, I think people have like converted to Hillary, and I don’t feel there’s any kind of dragging their feet in that sense.”
Sam Bell, the state coordinator of the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats, and was an ardent Sanders supporter. He’s now thrown his support behind Hillary Clinton.
“The choice in the election really couldn’t really be clearer,” said Bell. “We have a Democrat who maybe might not be the most progressive Democrat we could wish for, but you know is fairly consistent within the mainstream of the party.”
Bell said he thinks Sanders has moved the party to the left, and he is happy to hear Clinton talk about some of the issues Sanders championed, like broad public healthcare programs and debt free college. He adds that he believes there are very few Sanders supporters in Rhode Island now voting for Trump.
But Rhode Island College student Lesley Angel said she’s still not convinced by Clinton either.
“As far as I know I can still do a write-in for Bernie Sanders, so I kind of just want to do that,” said Angel.
The real impact of Sanders’ primary run may be found farther down the ballot, with people like Lauren Niedel and other Rhode Islanders who say they were inspired by Sanders to run for public office. This summer, Senator Sanders began the organization ‘Our Revolution,’ a political organizing group focused on supporting progressive candidates across the U.S.
