To hear the chattering class, Bernie Sanders’ decision to nominate Hillary Clinton by acclimation this evening represents the unification and healing of the Democratic Party. Eh, maybe.
A group of pro-Bernie convention attendees just chanted “Bernie or jail” in the hallway of the arena. Pro-Bernie, anti-Hillary protesters got into the media tent adjacent to the arena. And there was a fairly well-attended Black Lives Matter/Bernie or Bust rally in downtown Philadelphia Tuesday; signs like “Bernie or Jill, Never Hillary” suggested these activists were not going to fall in line and support Clinton.
Those examples are anecdotal, and represent those in Philadelphia and most strongly motivated about politics. But CNN’s most recent poll asked Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents who they wished the party had nominated and found 49 percent said Clinton, 45 percent said Sanders. In June, Clinton led 55 percent to 43 percent. (Thanks, FBI Director Comey!)
We’ll get our first really good sense of Democratic party unity in the post-convention polls. Hillary Clinton should be winning 90 percent or more of self-identified Democrats. In the most recent CBS News poll, 83 percent of Democrats were supporting Hillary; 11 percent said they would support Trump.