Sanders and First Lady Michelle Obama headline day one of the Democratic convention which gavels in at 4:00 pm (2000 GMT) Monday. Please click the button below to manage your account.
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It’s become a bit easier for Hillary Clinton to formally claim the nomination at the upcoming Democratic National Convention. After his win in the primary, Sanders has 44 pledged delegates to Clinton’s 39.
For Clinton, it was a turbulent start to a historic four-day gathering that will culminate in the nomination of the first woman to lead a major USA political party.
She’d been asked what name she would call Trump in response to his repeatedly referring to her as “Crooked Hillary”. He added that progressives will “will understand what it means when their efforts to challenge oligarchy have been met by Clinton’s selection of a loyal servant of oligarchy”. Still many delegates, and Sanders himself, said they planned to fall in line, mindful of the Republican alternative.
Her supporters pushed back, standing on chairs and yelling at the Sanders people to step back or sit down. He later told reporters outside the church: “We needed some prayers today and we got some prayers, and we got some support and it really feels good”. “Trump is a bully and a demagogue”.
Kaine, 58, edged out two other finalists-Cory Booker, a USA senator from New Jersey, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, according to a Democratic source familiar with the discussions.
Sanders, first lady Michelle Obama and Warren, the senator from MA and a liberal firebrand, are expected to kick off the opening session, which will focus on hammering home Clinton’s agenda for families.
Clinton is promising a stark contrast to last week’s Republican gathering, an often chaotic affair that featured a heavy dose of pessimism about the economy and national security.
But despite their candidate now backing Clinton, many say they will not hold their nose and pull the lever in November for someone they loathe. “He’s a guy who remembers why he entered public service in the first place and you just know he is doing what he believes is the right thing to do for the people he serves”. When he addresses the convention Tuesday night, the Clinton campaign team may well be thinking, “First, do no harm”.
The controversy over some 19,000 leaked DNC emails, however, threatened to complicate those plans.
At a White House news conference with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, Obama said crime rates, especially those for violent crime, are lower than at any time in the past 30 years.
Clinton campaign officials pointed the finger for the hack at Russian military intelligence agencies. They accused Russian Federation of trying to meddle in the USA election and favoring GOP nominee Donald Trump.
“It is beneath the character of the kind of dialogue we should have”, Kaine said.
“I have stayed out of the political arena my entire adult life, but given the complexities of issues facing our country today and its longtime allies, I felt compelled to speak up and be heard”, said Allen in a statement circulated by Clinton’s campaign.
The convention is among the campaign’s last chances to recast the personal narrative about Clinton, especially with her favorability ratings dipping further after the Federal Bureau of Investigation director’s criticism of her use of a private email server as secretary of State. But she has now told the Sun-Sentinel, “I have decided that in the interest of making sure that we can start the Democratic convention on a high note that I am not going to gavel in the convention”. Sanders’ supporters say they are concerned that Kaine is not progressive enough. But it did little to temper their ongoing concerns about the woman at the top of the Democratic ticket.
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“We are all scared of Donald Trump, but we also have misgivings about Hillary”, said Bruce Fealk, a Sanders delegate from MI.
