Sanders begins losing Super Delegates

May 19, 2016

Bernie Sanders is trying to persuade Democratic Party superdelegates backing Hillary Clinton to flip their allegiance as a last-ditch bid for the nomination, but one Sanders supporter is going the other way.

Emmett Hansen II, the Democratic National Committeeman for the U.S. Virgin Islands, decided to shift his support to Clinton after a weekend briefing on her plans for U.S. territories that followed months of dissatisfaction with Sanders’ lack of concrete positions.

His reasons go right to the heart of Clinton's critique of the Sanders campaign. Hansen said that while he’s a believer in sweeping change, he also wants to get things done.

“There are no more windmills to joust against and no more mountains to climb,” said Hansen, a native of St. Croix who was on the Sanders campaign's list of publicly committed superdelegate supporters. “It comes down to one thing: what’s best for the Virgin Islands, to be fully incorporated into the United States.”

Hansen is the first Sanders superdelegate to publicly shift his support to Clinton.

The U.S. Virgin Islands will send 12 delegates to the Democratic National Convention in July, seven of them pledged based on the outcome of district caucuses are scheduled for June 4.

Among Clinton's pledges: giving the territories the ability to vote in presidential elections, and providing the same Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid benefits that are available in the 50 states.

Hansen said the decision to switch wasn't easy. He had been communicating with the Sanders campaign for months, pushing his aides to commit to taking detailed positions on issues affecting the U.S. Virgin Islands. He said the answers weren't forthcoming. “I know a million different ways not to answer a question,” he said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-05-17/sanders-quest-for-superdelegates-loses-one-after-virgin-island-official-flips-to-clinton