What supporters of U.S. political outsider Bernie Sanders will do could be crucial for deciding who wins the White House race in 2016, experts said.

Though Sanders still refused to quit the nomination race after his rival Hillary Clinton has sealed the victory, the public's attention has already shifted to what his supporters will do next or whom they are going to vote for in the 2016 presidential race.

Clinton is eager to woo Sanders supporters, most of them are millennials who are fed up with politicians in Washington. They are also burdened by high student loans and are struggling to make ends meet seven years after the 2008 economic nose dive.

Some experts believe the Sanders crowd may well determine the outcome of the 2016 race to the White house.

"Although Bernie's name will not be on the ballot in November, his supporters could very well decide this election," Republican Strategist Ford O'Connell told Xinhua.

A large number of Sanders supporters are willing to back Clinton after Sanders finally quits the campaign, a recent poll found. But up to 20 percent of Sanders supporters said they are going to support Trump.

"The fact is that some (Sanders supporters) agree with Trump when it comes to trade and corporate donations in politics," O' Connell said.

That's why Trump in recent weeks seems to be echoing Sanders, lambasting the political system as rigged, as Sanders often does, experts noted.

"He's trying to get as many of Bernie's supporters as possible, " O'Connell said.

Darrell West, vice president and director of governance studies of Brookings Institution, said that Trump will seek to woo Sanders'  voters, but he will not have much success.

West said that that Trump's outrageous comments about women, Latinos and African-Americans will turn off young people and progressive voters and make it impossible to consolidate their support.

For the Democratic Party, an upcoming threat may be the possibilities of Sanders supporters deciding to vote for the Green Party candidate, Jill Stein.

That would take votes away from Clinton and could give Trump an advantage, experts said.

Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, told Xinhua that most of Sanders supporters will support Clinton, but some of this will really depend on Sanders' attitude in the coming months.

"He has the ability to make sure his followers support her, organize for her and come out to vote,"  Zelizer said.

Still, some supporters will drop out of politics. Others will continue to fight for the causes that Sanders raised either through social movements, nonprofit organizations or electoral politics.

Still, West said there is the potential for serious disruption at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia next month.

The 2016 campaign has unleashed major dissatisfaction within the Democratic Party and there already have been street protests.

"There could be violent encounters outside the convention from more extreme activists, and that has the potential to embarrass the party establishment. Such actions would feed into the Trump critique that things are not going well and America needs a strong leader to restore order," West said. 

Source:
courtesy of XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

by Xinhua News Agency

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