--- title: Bernie Sanders to Third-Party Voters: 'Think Hard About It' description: The Vermont Sen. told those considering a third-party "protest" vote to think long and hard about their decision. canonical: https://time.com/4497049/bernie-sanders-third-party-clinton/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-16T15:33:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:45:36.737Z article:section: Politics og:title: Bernie Sanders to Third-Party Voters: 'Think Hard About It' og:description: The Vermont Sen. told voters to think long and hard before casting a "protest" ballot og:url: https://time.com/4497049/bernie-sanders-third-party-clinton/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt784d035cf5275de8/69889f43cf40a87270c442d6/a6303159.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 6000 og:image:height: 3375 og:image:alt: TIMEPOL DNC og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bernie Sanders to Third-Party Voters: 'Think Hard About It' twitter:description: The Vermont Sen. told voters to think long and hard before casting a "protest" ballot twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt784d035cf5275de8/69889f43cf40a87270c442d6/a6303159.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bernie Sanders Warns of the Danger of a Third-Party Vote > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Sep 16, 2016 3:33 PM UTC  Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at the Democratic National Convention on July 25, 2016, in Philadelphia. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at the Democratic National Convention on July 25, 2016, in Philadelphia. Benjamin Lowy for TIME by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Sep 16, 2016 3:33 PM UTC [Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders](http://time.com/4446641/bernie-sanders-debbie-wasserman-schultz-fundraising-emails/) has some advice for those considering casting a “protest” vote for a third-party candidate in the upcoming presidential election. “This is not a governor’s race, it’s not a state legislative race, this is the presidency of the United States,” Sanders told the hosts of MSNBC’s _Morning Joe_ on Friday. “And I would say to those people out there who are thinking of the protest vote, think about what the country looks like and whether you’re comfortable with four years of a Trump presidency.” Sanders, the longest serving Independent member of Congress in U.S. history, was on the show making the case for voting for his former opponent in the Democratic primary Hillary Clinton. “Let us elect Hillary Clinton as president, and the day after, let us mobilize millions of people around the progressive agenda,” Sanders said. After a grueling primary, Clinton and Sanders [made amends in July](http://time.com/4423460/democratic-convention-speech-bernie-sanders/) at the Democratic National Convention, where she became the party’s presidential nominee. When asked about Clinton’s lack of support from younger voters, a group that [leaned very heavily towards Sanders](http://time.com/4262566/why-bernie-sanders-wont-quit/) in the primary, the “Democratic socialist” had more counsel. “I would just simply say to the millennials and to anybody else, look at the issues. Don’t get hung up on Trump’s kids and whatever the story of the birther issue,” Sanders told _Morning Joe_. “Stay focused on the issues of relevance to your life. I think Clinton is, far and away, the superior candidate.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4497049/bernie-sanders-third-party-clinton/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4497049/bernie-sanders-third-party-clinton/"},"headline":"Bernie Sanders Warns of the Danger of a Third-Party Vote","datePublished":"2016-09-16T15:33:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:45:36.737Z","description":"\"Think about what the country looks like and whether you're comfortable with four years of a Trump presidency\"","url":"https://time.com/4497049/bernie-sanders-third-party-clinton/","keywords":["2016 Election","Hillary Clinton","democrats","2016 Election","Bernie Sanders","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt784d035cf5275de8/69889f43cf40a87270c442d6/a6303159.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt784d035cf5275de8/69889f43cf40a87270c442d6/a6303159.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIMEPOL DNC","caption":"Vermont Sen. 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