There’s less an week left before Californians head to the polls on Super Tuesday. To get a sense of where Bay Area voters stand, we sent KALW’s Sarah Lai Stirland out to a Democratic debate party at a pizza joint on the Peninsula.
If there was one unifying theme on Tuesday evening at the Round Table Pizza in Menlo Park, it’s that the jury is still out on who’s best positioned to beat Donald Trump in November.
"If I were the only voter in this, and my vote were the only one, it might be Elizabeth Warren. And I would be horrified if Trump is again the president. Therefore, I want to pick someone who is most likely to win," said Arthur Zingher from Mountain View.
He thinks the election will pivot on the purple states. So, he’s leaning towards Minnesota Senator Amy Klobucher.
"Klobuchar has the best history of winning in Purple's states, and her policies are almost as good as any others. She may be a milder personality, but that’s O.K.," he said.
Very little in Tuesday night’s debate seemed to change anyone’s mind on a candidate.
For his part, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ performance only seemed to solidify these voters’ opinions of him -- both for and against.
The top issues for Nathan from Palo Alto are “climate, health care and college.”
Sanders turned the 16-year-old onto politics through his candid approach.
"Even though he may not be like the most fancy speaker out there, he's just going to say it like it is. He says what he believes in, and then let you make the decision on if this is what's right or not," he said.
But Sanders’s policy and rhetoric have alienated retired small business owner Stephanie Grossman from Palo Alto.
"Bernie yells at me. I voted for him in 2016. But Bernie absolutely yells at me. He's nasty. He looks mean. He reminds me of my grandfather when my grandfather used to yell and I'm older than Bernie," she exlaimed.
Still, even without Grossman’s vote, Sanders has an 83 to 89 percent chance of winning California on Tuesday, according to a Five Thirty Eight Poll.
