PHILADELPHIA — For diehard Bernie Sanders supporters at the Democratic National Convention, nothing he said in his Monday night speech will convince them to vote for Hillary Clinton, or to quiet down during her all-but-guaranteed nomination this week.
“Under no circumstances will I ever vote for Hillary Clinton,” Nebraska delegate Edgar DeLeon said as the Wells Fargo Center emptied out after Sanders spoke.
“Jill Stein!” yelled another pro-Sanders delegate, referring to the Green Party candidate who some Sanders backers say they’ll now vote for in November instead of Clinton.
The Sanders address came at the conclusion of a tumultuous opening to the convention, which was punctuated by frequent pro-Sanders chanting and booing for Clinton.
When Sanders finally walked onto the stage at 10:40 p.m., deafening cheers went on for several minutes. Supporters refused to quiet down even when Sanders began to speak and when he finished, they weren’t following his advice to stop protesting and to get in line behind Clinton.
“Bernie started a revolution,” California delegate Makenzie Hayes said. “He can’t stop it now.”
Em Felton, a Sanders delegate from Iowa, said she would “have to think long and hard,” about who to vote for for president. She isn’t convinced Sanders has quelled the convention unrest.
“He’s trying his best but Bernie Sanders supporters are very headstrong people who have their convictions, and you can’t really lead them away from that,” Felton said.
Sanders backers ignored a text message he sent out earlier in the evening urging them to not to disrupt the convention. While some may have heeded the request, many others did not. California backers frequently chanted his name, even during first lady Michelle Obama’s speech.
When Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a favorite of the Left, praised Clinton in her address, Sanders backers shouted over her, “We trusted you!”
Michael Noland, an Illinois delegate for Sanders, called the speech both “unifying” and “energizing,” but said it won’t quiet the Sanders faction.
“I think he emboldened them,” Noland said. “If you looked around you could clearly seen how many people were holding up Bernie Sanders signs. We all know what we saw. This remains to be seen.”
Sanders told supporters he planned to vote for Clinton, but also told them he was looking forward to Tuesday’s roll call vote, when about 1,900 delegate will be voting for him, not Clinton.
“Tomorrow we will cast our votes and America will know he fought until the end,” DeLeon said.
