Bernie Sanders is holding his cards close. He has not yet revealed whether he will endorse Hillary Clinton and has instead demonstrated some tough negotiating skills that could prove to rival the businessman Donald Trump. Sanders has continued to remind the presumptive Democratic nominee that he got near 13 million votes in the primaries, and that his supporters are fanatically dedicated to him and to a socialistic agenda. He’s said outright that he hasn’t heard from Hillary the things he needed to hear in order to throw his support her way.

“I want her to say among other things, we have a crisis in higher education — public universities and colleges should be tuition free. Raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour,” Sanders said. “I believe that healthcare should be a right of all people. I would love her to say that and I would love her to move aggressively to make that happen.”

In contrast, Trump has directly spoken to Bernie’s followers. Trump is trying to build a common cause because his platform highlights how broken or rigged the system is – something with which Bernie’s voters would strongly agree.I think Bernie Sanders is a principled man. I disagree with his principles about 100%, but he seems to be a respectful (probably too respectful when it comes to Hillary) and honest person. He seems to promote no agenda beyond implementing his idea of utopia – a socialist paradise. He truly believes in this. On the other hand, Hillary uses allusions to these ideals but it fools no one that her true agenda is all about power – her own.

Bernie’s followers admire his adherence to socialist principles. He won’t be the Dem’s nominee so where will they go? Is there any chance they go over to Trump? Or do they consciously ignore their own principles and cast a vote for the Clinton machine? While we on the conservative side of the road have done a lot of lamenting over the last man standing for the Republican nomination, Bernie followers are in much the same boat.

If Bernie is the principled man he has presented himself to be, he shouldn’t be able to live with himself if he voted for Clinton (though he says he will). He despises everything she’s about. He hates the corporate money, he hates the power suck, he hates the front that she presents because he knows she is using the principles he holds deep in his heart to advance her agenda. In order to remain respectable in my eyes, he must withhold any support. But in the end he’s a politician and I expect him to justify his eventual endorsement when Hillary gives him the concessions he says he wants, and she will – when the time is right. For now he’ll continue to put up a good fight for his followers.

Tim Black, progressive Bernie follower, acknowledges that in the end Bernie is a politician, and explains why Bernie might vote for Hillary, and that’s ok. He thinks Jill Stein of the Green party may be a good alternative, but he mostly believes what ordinary people believe – we should support principled people:

The next question will be whether Bernie’s supporters will follow his lead. I have a few friends that love Bernie, but who will absolutely never in a million lifetimes vote for Hillary, and have expressed an openness to vote for Trump. In fact, Trump may have more of a chance at winning over these voters than he does at shifting any NeverTrumpers. NeverTrumpers have rightly assessed Trump as not being very conservative or principled, and so until he shows some more respect for the Republican party platform, they are unmoved. But Bernie followers have no such beef with Trump. In fact his lack of conservative principles would be a plus for them. They could see him as more pragmatic than ideological and may in fact cross the Dem party line.

Therefore, I predict that NeverTrumpers, and others on the fence about Trump, will not be given any reason to change their minds, as it looks like the most important voters in this election will turn out to be Bernie voters. So, proud conservatives, it is pretty obvious that you are going to be ignored for the foreseeable future. Nothing new here.