DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
Sanders tries to unite party
Bernie Sanders tried to end the schism in the Democratic Party Monday, delivering a robust endorsement of Hillary Clinton on a night when many of his supporters booed her name.
Sanders told a packed arena on the first night of the Democratic National Convention that “Clinton must become the next president of the United States.”
“If you don’t believe that this election is important, if you think you can sit it out, take a moment to think about the Supreme Court justices that Donald Trump would nominate and what that would mean to civil liberties, equal rights and the future of our country,” Sanders said.
As Sanders spoke, the Jumbotron showed several of his supporters sobbing in the stands. His speech, long and enthusiastic, could not erase the discord visible earlier in program.
When the heat broke in Philadelphia early Monday night, a storm began. It brought heavy rain to a convention already operating under a cloud. Facing the most controversial Republican nominee in more than 50 years, Democrats fought among themselves, keeping the focus on internal squabbles, not on Donald Trump, for much of the evening.
The wounds from a long primary battle were visible everywhere. Inside the Wells Fargo Center, Sanders supporters screamed their displeasure. They accused the Democratic National Committee of rigging the nomination. They booed the name of their presumptive nominee. Some vowed to abandon the party itself.
Afterward, even after Sanders spoke, some could still be heard yelling in the arena concourse, accusing the Democratic Party of election fraud. “You stole Bernie from us!” one man yelled.
Speakers in the official program tried to bridge that gap throughout the night, to mixed success. Sanders himself performed the greatest hits of his anti-corporate, populist message, while taking the fight directly to Trump.
“I understand that many people here in this hall and around the country are disappointed by the final result of the nominating process. I think it’s fair to say no one is more disappointed than I am,” he said.
“Election days come and go, but the struggle of the people — to create a government that represents all of us and not just the one per cent, a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice — that struggle continues. And I look forward to being part of that struggle with you.”
In the most emotional moment of the night, first lady Michelle Obama teared up while praising Clinton. “Because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters and all our sons and daughters now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States,” she said, her voice choking up.
Comedian Sarah Silverman, originally a Sanders supporter, earned a mix of cheers, boos and rival chants by urging Sanders supporters to get behind Clinton. “Can I just say, to the Bernie-or-Bust people, you’re being ridiculous,” she said in one volatile moment, sparking a round of “Bernie! Bernie!” chants in the arena.
It was an echo of the chants audible throughout the night. Delegates entering the arena from the subway walked a gauntlet of angry Sanders demonstrators. Hundreds of them lined the fences chanting “No! No! DNC! We won’t vote for Hillary!” and calling the nomination “rigged.”
Some of the demonstrators tried to block the entrance to the arena and several
I LOOK FORWARD TO BEING PART OF THAT STRUGGLE WITH YOU.
were detained by police. One woman smiled as an officer walked her in handcuffs past reporters and delegates.
The protests on the first day of the convention seemed larger than any in Cleveland last week during the Republican National Convention. Fervent pro-Sanders delegates marched in the streets for hours on a day when the temperature rarely dipped below 35 C.
Inside the arena, Sanders delegates jeered whenever Clinton’s name was heard from the podium early in the night. Clinton whips handed out “Love Trumps Hate” posters and urged Clinton loyalists to drown the Sanders supporters out.
Melissa Arab wrote “Bernie” over the “Love” on her poster. “We have to try to get Bernie Sanders nominated,” she said. Asked if she could support Clinton in November if that failed, she replied: “Nope. Never ... Not a chance in hell.”
“There is a tremendous amount of tension,” said Raffi Mercuri, a delegate from Colorado. “What you’re seeing is a lot of disunity.”
Mercuri came to Philadelphia to support Sanders. But he says he’ll vote for Clinton in the fall. Still, he understands why his fellow Sanders supporters are upset.