The last time Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton appeared together at the University of New Hampshire, the campus was buzzing with Bernie Sanders supporters.
It was the debate before the primary, and college students milled around tables at the student union building, signing up new voters and talking about “the political revolution.”
On Wednesday, a few hours before Sanders and Clinton were set to talk about college debt at UNH, those same tables were empty.
“I think Bernie’s done a really good job of trying to transfer that energy to Hillary, but I think a lot of people haven’t made the change yet,” said freshman Elias Tyrrel-Walker of Henniker. “There’s a lot of complacency and just despondence. A lot of people unplugged themselves from the election because Bernie’s out now.”
Tyrrel-Walker is a former Sanders supporter, but is proudly supporting Clinton as the general election approaches.
“Once Hillary won the nomination, I was one of those people that instantly switched,” he said. Asked if he ever thought about voting for Green Party candidate Jill Stein, he said, “not for a second.”
Others are not so sure.
Several students said they were casting votes for the full range of candidates, including Clinton, Donald Trump, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Stein.
UNH junior Gabby Greaves introduced Sanders to a roaring crowd at his first university rally last year at the Field House, the same venue for Wednesday’s event.
Last year, “I had a lot more energy and hope,” Greaves said, adding Sanders made her and others “feel like their voices mattered.”
Now, Greaves said she’s made the “very, very unpopular” decision to support Stein’s Green Party bid.
Greaves said she’s under no illusions that Stein will actually win; she predicts Clinton will ultimately be president. But she wants her vote this November to show the Democratic Party that the slow, incremental change proposed by Clinton is not what she’s looking for.
Greaves said she’s most concerned with climate change, a global threat she believes demands immediate action.
“I don’t think a Democrat will get us there fast,” she said. “I don’t think Hillary is going to be that person when it comes to environmental laws that need to be changed now.”
Other UNH students were similarly bleak when asked how they felt about the state of the election and their own futures.
“From what I’ve seen, I think we’re doomed,” said Caree Pitts, a junior from Amherst.
Pitts readily admits she doesn’t pay a lot of attention to politics, but what little information she’s gleaned makes her unimpressed with Trump and Clinton.
“Just from the little amount that I’ve seen written about both of them, neither of them seems very honest or very liked,” Pitts said. “I think we should get Obama for a three-peat; change the law (and) let Obama run for a third term.”
Senior Emily Frazzoni is contemplating casting her vote for Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico.
As a Republican, she voted for Jeb Bush in the New Hampshire primary but can’t bring herself to cast a vote for Trump.
“I just don’t think Trump’s the best face for our country,” she said.
Frazzoni’s friend Rachael Simms has supported Clinton from the beginning. Even with that steadfast support, Simms said she’s dismayed by the current state of the election.
“It’s sad. It’s just become a spectacle, especially with all of Trump’s antics lately,” she said. “It’s just become more about people being against things than actually supporting someone or somebody’s policies.”
UNH Democrats including Tyrrel-Walker, Ben Bernier and Hannah Machado say they don’t agree with the bleak outlook of other students.
“I think that is sort of exaggerated,” Tyrrel-Walker said. “For us, the big problem in our future is student debt. Other than that, I see a lot of opportunities and I see the country as a whole moving forward.”
Machado said she thinks a lot of the complacency and student dissatisfaction with Clinton is driven by a narrative about the candidate being untrustworthy.
“I feel like a lot of people aren’t satisfied with the nominated candidates for this election,” she said. “I think Hillary is very, very qualified. I think people listen too much to certain words in the media that make them think differently about her.”
With recent national polls showing a close presidential race, the three students say the prospect of a Trump presidency means they aren’t sitting this one out.
“It’s also so scary that I can’t just be like, ‘yeah, I think Hillary’s got it,’ ” Tyrrel-Walker said. “I have to go out and make calls and help at these events.”
(Ella Nilsen can be reached at 369-3322, enilsen@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @ella_nilsen.)