Quantcast
Sanders quells supporters’ revolt with speech at DNC, some are coming around – Metro US

Sanders quells supporters’ revolt with speech at DNC, some are coming around

Sanders quells supporters’ revolt with speech at DNC, some are coming around
Metro Staff

Vermont Senator and Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders did not initially seem to “Stand with Her” as he began his speech at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night, but quickly made it clear that former Secretary of State “Hillary Clinton must become the next president of the United States.”

After thanking Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and first lady Michelle Obama, Sanders expressed his gratitude to his supporters and said the revolution is not over. “I look forward to your votes in the roll call tomorrow night,” Sanders emphatically said from the stage. Some attendees erupted into cheers while others sat silent.

Sanders skipped any sour grapes, failing to mention the leaked DNC emails, and instead focused on unifying the party to vote for Clinton.

Here are some quotes from Sanders’ DNC speech:

“Hillary Clinton understands that if somebody in this country works 40 hours a week, that person should not be living in poverty. She understands that we must raise the minimum wage to a living wage.”

“We have started a revolution to transform America; that revolution, our revolution continues. Election days come and go, but the struggles of the people to create a government that represents all of us, not just the 1 percent… That struggle continues.

“This election is about and must be about the needs of the American people.”

“Hillary understands that we can create hundreds of thousands of jobs transforming our energy system. Donald Trump? Well, like most Republicans, he chooses to reject science.

“Hillary Clinton understands it’s the president’s job to worry about future generations.”

“Hillary Clinton and I disagree on some issues, that’s what this campaign has been about. That’s what democracy is about. I’m happy to tell you, at the Democratic Platform Committee there was a significant coming together between the two campaigns. We produced the most progressive platform in the history in the United States. Among many, many other strong provisions, the Democratic party now calls for breaking up the major financial institutions on Wall Street.​”

“Our jobnow is to see that strong Democratic platform implemented by a Democratic controlled senate, by a Democratic house and a Hillary Clinton presidency.”

Before Sanders took the stage,Minnesota U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, a supporter of Sanders, announced that he will vote for Clinton, but noted, “Bernie sparked the beginning of a revolution.”

By the time Sanders finished on Monday night, it seemed that some Sanders supporters were swayed by the senator’s impassioned plea.

Convention attendees spoke to Metro about their thoughts as day one of the DNC came to a close.

“It was a great speech and he made us believe in the Democratic process,” said Faye Morrison, delegate from 3rd congressional district of Massachusetts.

“It was the healing action we all needed,” Don Bye of Minnesota said. “[Sanders] sent us out of here together.”

Alice Wolfe of Cambridge added: “He pointed out the enormous needs our country has; how important it is to meet those needs for the people of our country and Hillary Clinton is the leader that can do that. “

“I was happy he talked about climate change and it’s the reason I’ll vote for Clinton because she’s much better than Trump on that.” Christopher Meyer of Minneapolis, Minnesota,

Earlier in the day, Sanders drew jeers from his own supporters when he urged his delegates to back the White House bid of his former rival, Clinton, and focus on defeating Republican Donald Trump in the Nov. 8 presidential election.

“We want Bernie,” they shouted in a show of anger at both Clinton’s victory in the race for the Democratic nomination and emails leaked on Friday suggesting the party leadership had tried to sabotage Sanders’ insurgent campaign.

For months, Sanders, 74, a U.S. senator from Vermont, mounted an unexpectedly tough challenge to Clinton, 68, a former secretary of state, who this week will become the first woman nominated for president by a major U.S. political party.

The scenes of booing in Philadelphia were a setback to Democratic officials’ attempts to present the gathering as a smoothly run show of party unity in contrast to the volatile campaign of Republican nominee Trump.

“Our credibility as a movement will be damaged by booing, turning of backs, walking out or other similar displays. That’s what the corporate media wants. That’s what Donald Trump wants,” Sanders said in the email.

Trump gloated at the Democrats’ opening day disorder.

“Wow, the Republican Convention went so smoothly compared to the Dems total mess,” he wrote on Twitter.

‘SINCERE APOLOGY’

The Democratic National Committee issued “a deep and sincere apology to Senator Sanders, his supporters, and the entire Democratic Party for the inexcusable remarks made over email” and said it would take action to ensure it never happens again.

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned effective at the end of the convention over the email flap. At a morning gathering of Florida delegates, Sanders supporters booed Wasserman Schultz, who they accuse of trying to sabotage the campaign of the democratic socialist.

Sanders, speaking later to his delegates in Philadelphia, drew jeers and catcalls when he urged supporters to help defeat Trump by backing Clinton and her vice presidential running mate, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia.

“Brothers and sisters, this is the real world that we live in,” he said, adding: “Trump is a bully and a demagogue.”

Members of the crowd screamed back: “So is Hillary.” “She stole the election!” someone else shouted.

Sanders complained bitterly during the primary that the party leadership was working against him. Some of his backers are reluctant to get behind Clinton, seeing her as a member of the Washington political elite who pays lip service to their goals of reining in Wall Street and eradicating income inequality.

Speakers pleaded for unity among the competing supporters. Diane Russell, a Sanders delegate from Maine, said the party had to come together to beat Trump.

“Whether you support Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton, we’re all in this together,” she said.

U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, the only senator to endorse Sanders, said supporters of the two former rivals had plenty in common.

“Whether you spent this year feeling the Bern or you spent this year ready for Hillary, all of us are ready for an America that rejects discrimination and embraces diversity, that celebrates voter empowerment not voter suppression, that creates opportunity for all of us, not just the lucky few,” he said.

While Sanders has endorsed Clinton, the former first lady faces a difficult task winning over his backers in the fight against Trump. The New York businessman pulled ahead in at least one opinion poll on Monday, after lagging Clinton in most national surveys for months.

A CNN/ORC opinion poll gave Trump a 48 percent to 45 percent lead over Clinton in a two-way presidential contest.

Trump was formally nominated for president at a chaotic Republican convention in Cleveland last week.

Sanders was among those due to speak on the first evening of the Democratic convention. Other scheduled speakers included President Barack Obama’s wife, first lady Michelle Obama.

‘DEMOCRACY IS MESSY’

Ed Mullen, 49, a delegate from Illinois, said he supported Sanders but would vote for Clinton in November. He said the protesters at the convention had a right to stay.

“Democracy is messy, people have disputes with how the DNC has managed this campaign,” Mullen said.

Wasserman Schultz, a Florida congresswoman, was the focus of anger from liberal Democrats over some 19,000 DNC emails that were leaked by the WikiLeaks website that showed the party establishment working to undermine Sanders.

The cache of leaked emails disclosed that DNC officials explored ways to undercut Sanders’ insurgent presidential campaign, including raising questions about whether Sanders, who is Jewish, was an atheist.

Sanders supporters were already dismayed last week when Clinton passed over liberal favorites like U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts to select the more moderate Kaine as her running mate.

The Clinton camp questioned whether Russians may have had a hand in the hack attack on the party’s emails in an effort to help Trump, who has exchanged words of praise with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Republicans dismissed the suggestion as absurd.

The FBI said on Monday it would investigate the nature and scope of the hack.

Alexis Sachdev and Jennifer Logue contributed to this report.

Reuters contribution written by John Whitesides and Luciana Lopez with additional reporting by Jonathan Allen, Amy Tennery, Alana Wise, Emily Stephenson and Erik Tavcar.