The appeal came after Sanders deputy campaign manager Rich Pelletier and Clinton aide Marlon Marshall met in a bid to head off any floor protests that would shatter the image of Democratic unity as the convention opened, a party official said.
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And Obama continued to praise Clinton, saying: “She never quit on anything in her life, and when I think about the kind of President that I want for our girls and all our children, that’s what I want: I want someone with proven strength to persevere, someone who knows this job and takes it seriously, someone who understands that the issues a president faces are not black and white and can not be boiled down to 140 characters”. Behind the scenes, Sanders and his campaign tried to persuade his delegates not to disrupt the proceedings.
“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.
“It will be a variation of the same themes – the need to beat Trump and continue the fight for the issues he has highlighted throughout the campaign”, Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs said.
“Wow, the Republican Convention went so smoothly compared to the Dems total mess”, he wrote on Twitter.
Rawlings-Blake is a last-minute fill-in Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the ousted Democratic National Committee leader.
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.
During Marcia Fudge’s opening remarks, she is being halted by boos and chants from Bernie Sanders’ delegates at any mention of presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton.
“May I just make a point”, Fudge said.
The same Revolutionary Community Party members who demonstrated in Cleveland were spotted in the crowd in Philadelphia. “She stole the election!” someone else shouted. For many Sanders fans, the messages proved that their concerns about party officials preferring Clinton were correct.
Speakers pleaded for unity among the competing supporters.
“Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Hillary’s orchestrated collusion cheated thousands of honest Americans, who have invested enormous amounts of money and personal time for real change”, said one of the marchers, Dan Haggerty, 54, an electrician from California.
His speech followed Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who spoke over chanting Sanders supporters to unequivocally condemn Donald Trump and tout her support for Clinton.
“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.
Clinton got a modest boost yesterday when former vice president Al Gore offered his endorsement. More rallies are planned on Monday.
A CNN/ORC opinion poll gave Trump a 48 percent to 45 percent lead over Clinton in a two-way presidential contest. At a convention, each party formally nominates its candidates for president and vice-president, and the party unveils its party platform, or manifesto.
The White House is pitching first lady Michelle Obama’s speech Monday night as a barometer of party unity.
The divisions in the Democratic party may not be as severe as the first hours of the convention suggested.
“This right now, is the greatest country on earth”, she said.
“Democracy is messy, people have disputes with how the DNC has managed this campaign”, Mullen said.
The Vermont senator’s supporters are angry over recently leaked emails that show Democratic Party leaders favoring Clinton before the primaries were concluded.
The cache of emails leaked by the WikiLeaks website on Friday disclosed that DNC officials explored ways to undercut Sanders, including raising questions about whether the Vermont lawmaker, who is Jewish, was really an atheist. As he demanded Wasserman Schultz’s resignation, Sanders made clear he wants to see Clinton win the White House. Elizabeth Warren of MA to select the more moderate Kaine as her running mate.
Trump said in a Tweet Monday that reports of Russia releasing the emails because Russian President Vladimir Putin likes him is “the new joke in town”.
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The FBI said on Monday it would investigate the nature and scope of the hack.
