Nurses For Bernie Blame Associated Press For California Loss
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- Despite a record surge in registration, turnout in the California primary was much lower than forecast, and Bernie Sanders didn't do nearly as well as expected, and Bay Area nurses who helped fuel Sanders' rise blame the Associated Press.
The Sanders Campaign, and Nurses United, which gave Sanders his largest and earliest labor support, are still fuming over the AP's decision to secretly poll super delegates a day before California's primary, and announce that Clinton had enough of them to lock up the Democratic nomination for president.
National Nurses United Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro told KCBS she has no doubt that move suppressed turnout, especially among younger, first-time voters.
"All of the new people that we brought in, and all of the enthusiasm, that turned to anger," DeMoro said.
That anger did not turn into votes for Sanders the next day.
There were still up to two million ballots to count, but it appeared as though the youth voter turnout was disappointingly low.
DeMoro and Sanders believe the Clinton Campaign orchestrated the super delegate reveal out of fear of losing California. The Clinton Campaign denies that, and the AP claims it was just doing its job, and that younger voters often fail to turn out as predicted.
Still, DeMoro said the effect was unmistakable.
"They basically called the election prematurely; said California doesn't matter, and shut down their voice," DeMoro said.
