SACRAMENTO — There’s a push to make green the new blue. As some Bernie Sanders supporters are jumping ship from the democratic party, opting instead to vote for green party candidate Jill Stein.
Similar to the styling of the British vote to leave the European Union, they’re calling the movement #DemExit.
Some Sanders supporters see the choice between the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees as simple: “Whether we get Hillary or we get Trump, we get just as dangerous on either side just—in different ways,” Sanders supporter Erik Rydberg said.
After the Democratic National Convention brought some Sanders supporters into the fold, others are refusing to settle viewing the leaked emails, indicating the DNC’s preference for Hillary Clinton over Sanders as the final straw.
Nicole Castor of Citrus Heights decided to switch her party affiliation from Democrat to Green Party after reading the party’s platform, noticing similarities between it and Sanders’.
“This is ridiculous—this two party system. We’re done, we’re super done,” she said.
And Rydberg a former faithful Bernie supporter, agrees. “They’ve pretty much left their base behind.”
Rydberg traded his blue bandanna for a green one after Sanders endorsed Clinton. He, like Castor, has more faith in Jill Stein, the Green Party’s presidential candidate, than he does Clinton.
The Chico resident is now refocusing his energy on Green voter registration in Northern California.
“Everybody likes to say if a third party had a chance at winning they’d vote for a third party, Rydberg explained. “But if you’d just vote for a third party, a third party would have a chance at winning.”
The California Green Party says it doesn’t expect to be able to do an official voter registration comparison until August, but estimate it’s received five times as many inquiries about the party as normal.
The party welcoming new registrants with open arms, specifically targeting disillusioned Democrats.
