With #BernieLostMe Hashtag, Black Voters Describe How Bernie Sanders Messed Up
As the reality of a Bernie Sanders nomination fades away, his supporters have said they are #StillSanders but opponents expressed frustrations with his campaign Wednesday evening with the hashtag #BernieLostMe.
Though it's unclear whether Twitter participants were longtime supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders or were considering him as an option against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, many hashtag users were crystal clear on one thing: Sanders lost them on issues of race.
Clinton achieved victories in several states by mobilizing black voters. She's also spoken about systemic racism in America and dedicated a speech early in her campaign to ending mass incarceration.
After Super Tuesday, outlets reported Clinton had built a coalition of support from black and Latino voters, older voters and women. And while many people on Twitter brought up issues of race, there were other issues too: sexism in Sanders' campaign, and sexism and aggression among his supporters popped up, as well.
As it happens, the hashtag dissolved into some bitter, aggressive tweets between supporters of both candidates. While this level of passion about the political process is encouraging, Democrats who want to claim victory over presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump come November may need to #FindCommonGround.