'Jill, not Hill,' Sanders crowd chants at Green Party's Jill Stein
A crowd of "Bernie or Bust" supporters shifted their cheers Tuesday to Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who stepped onstage near City Hall and into the space between the victorious Clinton camp and the loyalists determined to keep the Sanders movement alive.
A crowd of "Bernie or Bust" supporters shifted their cheers Tuesday to Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who stepped onstage near City Hall and into the space between the victorious Clinton camp and the loyalists determined to keep the Sanders movement alive.
"Our hearts are with him, our hearts are with you," she told a cheering crowd. "Whatever happens, you know my campaign is here."
The group of passionate Sanders loyalists represented a faction of his camp that says it would go Green in November without Sanders, ignoring Democrats' fears that Donald Trump could win the presidency if the party splits.
They rejected the idea of unifying behind Clinton, which Sanders himself urged in the convention's keynote address Monday.
"I am relieved there is another option," Pauline Zager, of Doylestown, said of Stein. "[Trump] will be horrible for our country -- but the problem is, so will Hillary."
If Trump wins, the DNC and the superdelegates who vote for Clinton would be responsible -- not Sanders fans who desert the Democratic party in November, said Victor Tiffany, founder of the #BernieorBust movement.
"They can't blame us now," Tiffany said, speaking to the crowd after Stein. "They know what our plans are."
Earlier Tuesday, Sanders delegates said they had failed in an attempt to put forth an alternate candidate for vice president, saying the Democratic National Committee "shut us down" by not providing the necessary form upon first request.
A spokesman for the Bernie Delegates Network claimed they had run out of time for their bid, though the filing deadline had not yet passed. A representative asked the DNC for the form on Monday in person and then did not receive an email response to the request.
The deadline would likely be Wednesday morning, said Lee Whack, DNC spokesman.
The delegates have not attempted to get the form again, said Norman Solomon, head of the delegates network. "We're sunk on this one," he said just before noon on Tuesday, though he acknowledged that he knew the deadline may be Wednesday morning.
Of 300 Sanders delegates who responded to a straw poll by the Bernie Delegates Network, 81 percent said they would support an progressive vice presidential candidate as an alternative to Hillary Clinton's choice of Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine. Half said they want to protest during Kaine's convention speech.
The network represents 1,250 Sanders delegates, about two-thirds of the total.
Solomon refused to reveal the name of the progressive candidate the group said it had lined up to run, instead blaming the DNC.
"There is no candidate. The DNC saw to that," he said in response to reporters' requests for the person's name.
Meanwhile, Stein's new supporters are not the only ones thinking about November. As the week wears on, the question remains for all Sanders supporters: What about Donald Trump?
The message Tuesday -- following a day of protests through Philadelphia and boos at the convention on Monday -- was jumbled: condemning both Clinton and Trump, united in rallying for Sanders but with less consensus about what to do in November.
"I will have to make that decision after the convention," said Melissa Olson, a Sanders delegate from Minnesota who did not attend the Bernie-or-Bust rally.
"I'm all for not letting [Trump] in there," added her friend, Tharen Stillday, another Minnesota Sanders delegate who said she was also undecided about November.
Another popular notion among supporters is that voters from blue states can vote however they like; those who live where races will be close should vote for Hillary Clinton.
Ronnie Johnston, 65, of Port Orchard, Wash. said he planned to vote for Stein because his state always goes to the Democrats.
"If they're in swing states, they're pretty much going to have to suck it up and vote for Hillary," he said.
But others said though they are worried about Trump, they are angrier about what they see as DNC corruption.
"I still believe that [Clinton] would be better than Trump," said Bryan Gallo, 29, of Long Island, N.Y. -- but he said he'll vote for Stein.
"I'm tired of just having to pick betewen Republican and Democrat," he said.
610-313-8205
@McDanielJustine
Staff writer Laura McCrystal contributed to this story.
Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled Bryan Gallo's name.