Political Beat

Sticking with Hillary

Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders’ message of political revolution resonated with a large number of Vancouver residents, as demonstrated by last weekend’s Democratic caucuses.

The Vermont Senator won by a 3 to 1 margin locally, an even wider margin than his statewide win.

Now that the caucuses are over, many Sanders’ supporters have turned their attention to the state’s 17 superdelegates, and in particular, those who have pledged their support to Hillary Clinton. Gov. Jay Inslee stated his support for Clinton early in the election cycle.

When former President Bill Clinton was in Vancouver to stump for his wife, it was Inslee who introduced Bill Clinton. The former President wrote the foreword for Inslee’s book about a green economy.

And Inslee told the audience he has known Hillary Clinton and worked with her for a long time.

But Sanders’ supporters are criticizing superdelegates who aren’t listening to the majority.

Jasmina Ljutic wrote on Inslee’s Facebook page, “the people of Washington have spoken.”

She added, “As a leader of our state, it is important that you uphold our voices and start supporting Bernie Sanders who has won Washington by a landslide.”

When asked whether Inslee would consider switching, his spokesman said, “I think the (governor) would say we have two great candidates for the Democrats, but he supports Hillary because he’s known her a long time … and she will be the one to beat Trump in November and that’s important.”

The Seattle Times notes Inslee isn’t the only Washington being criticized.

“Enjoy your last Easter in office. The people have spoken,” wrote a man from Bellingham in a reply to Congressman Rick Larsen’s Easter greeting on his Facebook wall, as reported by The Seattle times.

Other superdelegates that have pledged support for Clinton, according to the Times, include, “U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, and U.S. Reps. Jim McDermott, Denny Heck, Suzan DelBene, Derek Kilmer and Adam Smith.”

Sanders’ fans have voiced outraged and called the process undemocratic.

But another article worth reading questions just how Democratic this process is anyway.

Danny Westneat writes in his column, only 5.8 percent of the state’s registered voters showed up.

“That means 94 percent of voters didn’t. Even the most moribund municipal election for, say, water commissioner, gets turnout rates five times that amount,” he wrote.

Lauren Dake

Lauren Dake

Lauren Dake covers politics for The Columbian. You can reach her at 360-735-4534 or lauren.dake@columbian.com. Follow her on Twitter .

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