Virginia Dems say main goal is to stop Trump
ARLINGTON, Virginia – The rain did not deter voters from casting their ballots at the Charles Barrett Elementary School in Alexandria on Tuesday morning. It was “Super Tuesday” – and voters were motivated to support their nominee.
Fourteen states will get to vote today, which accounts for some one-third of the delegates needed to win the nomination at the Democratic convention in Milwaukee this summer. A couple of moderate candidates, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, dropped out of the race over the past 48 hours, throwing their support behind former vice president Joe Biden. Beto O’Rourke, a former congressman and Democratic presidential hopeful, endorsed Biden as well, indicating a shift toward him.
Scott Fitzallen from Alexandria told The Jerusalem Post a narrower Democratic field has helped him make up his mind.
“I was going to vote for Mayor Pete before [he dropped out],” he said. “I think [Elizabeth] Warren is the smartest person left in the race. I think she’s the best candidate left in the race, but I don’t think she has a chance to win.”
“And so, I don’t want to waste my vote on somebody I don’t think can win,” Fitzallen said. “Of those that are left, Bernie [Sanders] and Biden have the best chance to win. And I’m not a Bernie fan because of the socialism issue.
Particularly because I think [President Donald] Trump will mop the floor with him if he was facing Bernie. He will just say we’re going to make this country into Venezuela, which isn’t true, but people believe Trump when he says that. So, they’ll vote against a Bernie. I want to get Trump out of office, and I think Biden has the best chance of that.”
Virginia Ritten from Alexandria, who identified as Independent, told the Post she decided to vote for Sanders.
“I’m a progressive, and I want this country’s corruption to be cleaned up,” she said. “I know that Bernie’s probably the cleanest, most-honest candidate, and he’s also got a very strong conscience. And I think that he’s going pick good professional people to take care of what’s going on. So, I have good confidence in him.
“I don’t have confidence in the Democratic Party to not try to stab him in the back again. I think that’s what’s rotten about the Democrats. That’s why I’m an Independent. If overwhelming numbers support Bernie, then ultimately the Democrats will be pressured [to support him].”
Asked who she thinks has a better chance to win the general election, Ritten said in her opinion that would be Sanders.
“He’s more verbal [than Biden],” she said. “He can argue better. He’s smarter.”
A few miles away, at Barcroft Elementary School in Arlington, there was a steady stream of voters as well. Judy Ann, who lives near the polling station, told the Post she decided to vote for Warren even though she recognizes that her path to victory is very
narrow.
“I decided to go with my principles rather than with who has the best chance,” she said, adding that she recognized “it made me think whether I am wasting my vote.”
“I was bouncing between Sanders and Warren,” Ann said. “I recognize that he’s more consistent in his messaging. And I liked that he’s moved the platform a little bit to the left, but at the same time is he too far left? And so all things being equal, I think Elizabeth Warren maybe a little bit more rational.”
“I’ve never been so conflicted in a primary,” she said. “There were people who said the things that I completely agreed with or not completely agreed with but predominantly agreed with, and they said the right things, and I was comfortable with who they were as people. And then to add in the wild card of, well, they have to run against Trump. And that throws everything out of whack instead of just saying who’s the best person.”