To many supporters of Sen.
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Kenny Madden, a Sanders delegate from Kentucky, said he doesn’t “think there can be anything Bernie can say that will bring people together”. On Sunday, Wasserman Schultz announced she would step down as DNC chairwoman at the end of the party’s convention.
A fresh email controversy, appearing to show bias by party officials against Sanders, has made that task harder just as the national spotlight turns to the Democrats’ rally behind Clinton.
A statement from the campaign noted: “Nearly a week after Donald Trump’s divisive convention in Cleveland full of unsafe ideas and divisive rhetoric, Democrats will highlight how this election presents a clear choice between bringing communities together to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top, or divisive and risky plans that would harm our economy and national security”.
The planned campaign stops in Pennsylvania come as some polls show the race tightening for the state’s 20 electoral votes; some political analysts are now saying the race is a toss-up between Clinton and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
The Democratic Party platform approved this week included a plank calling for repeal of the amendment and other measures that “impede a woman’s access to abortion”.
Mrs Obama, who has spent almost eight years in the White House avoiding political fights, took numerous swipes at Mr Trump, while avoiding mentioning him by name.
While delegate Nancy Floreen of Garrett Park, the president of the Montgomery County Council, “loves Mr. Kaine”, she said her first choice would have been Labor Secretary Tom Perez, who lives in Takoma Park.
Asked if he is ready to be president, Kaine said: “I’m ready first to be a supportive vice president so that the presidency of Hillary Clinton is is a fantastic one”.
Wasserman Schultz is leaving her post following the publication of thousands of emails suggesting the Democratic National Committee favored Clinton during her primary contest with Sanders, despite vowing to remain neutral.
Clinton’s team hoped Wasserman Schultz’s resignation – along with an apology from the DNC to Sanders and his supporters – would keep the convention floor calm. They had been in Miami at midday for his first appearance with Clinton since joining her campaign. Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, has endorsed Clinton, but many of his supporters have not.
Discussions between the Clinton and Sanders camps prompted him to send emails and text messages to supporters asking them not to protest.
President Bill Clinton, watching from the audience, leapt to his feet and applauded, as did most of the delegates filling the convention arena.
Sanders was closing the night, speaking just after Massachusetts. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a champion of tougher restrictions on Wall Street and liberal causes. “He has the right temperament and will round out what will be a very solid ticket to take on (Donald) Trump in November”, she said. “No plans to make anything great for anyone except rich guys like Donald Trump”. Other speakers include President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. While she has often avoided overt politics during her almost eight years in the White House, her frustration with Trump’s rise was evident. She warned that the White House couldn’t be in the hands of someone with “a thin skin or a tendency to lash out” or someone who tells voters the country can be great again. Tim Kaine, D-Va., as her running mate – even if some would have preferred a different person.
“The party now needs new leadership that will open the doors of the party and welcome in working people and young people”, Sanders said.
I think that Tim Kaine is a much-needed moderate, pragmatic figure in a field of extremists.
Even though the DNC and Clinton’s campaign are now under fire for questionable actions during the primaries, some of Clinton’s final messages at the rally maintained that her campaign is different from Trump and Pence and that she will continue her goal in becoming the next president of the United States.
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But New York delegates and guests who were checking into their downtown Philadelphia hotel Sunday, the day before the convention begins, were mostly concerned about policy issues.
