The former president’s comments evoked a huge cheer from the crowd at the Democratic National Convention.
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“I move that Hillary Clinton be selected as the nominee of the Democratic Party for president of the United States”, Sanders told thousands of delegates in the Wells Fargo Centre, which erupted in cheers.
“What’s the difference between what I told you [about Hillary Clinton] and what they said [about her at the RNC]?”
For a man more accustomed to delivering policy-packed stem-winders, Mr Clinton’s deeply personal address underscored the historic night for Democrats, and the nation. “That’s just who she is”.
Well, Bill Clinton managed a successful walk on the rhetorical high wire once again. They said they were holding a peaceful protest to complain about being shut out by the Democratic Party. The convention hall burst into deafening cheers.
“I move that Hillary Clinton be nominated as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate of the United States”, Sanders said towards the conclusion of the roll call. Her first run for the presidency, announced in January 2007, ended in a bitter loss to Obama in a Democratic primary that stretched into the summer of the election year.
“She had big blond hair and big glasses”, he said, amusingly. He said he intends to vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein, quoting the turn-of-the-last-century socialist labour leader Eugene Debs as saying, “I’d rather vote for what I want and lose than what I don’t want and win”.
In the streets outside, Sanders supporters who had spent the day protesting began facing off with police.
Often a gruff figure on the campaign trail, Sanders also showed unusual signs of sentiment.
“What’s the difference in what I told you and what they said?”
He recalled how she rebuffed his marriage proposals; how he bought a house because she liked it and he thought she’d marry him; how finally, on his third try, she accepted his marriage proposal. His career helped Hillary Clinton create her own opportunities. “She will fight for you”.
The significant time devoted to the testimonials underscored the campaign’s concerns about how voters view Clinton.
Public polls consistently show that a majority of Americans do not believe she is honest and trustworthy.
She came under relentless attack at the Republican convention in Cleveland, as speakers assailed her over the email controversy and her record as secretary of state and painted her as out of touch with ordinary Americans.
In nominating Clinton, delegate after delegate made the point that the selection of a woman was a milestone in America’s 240-year-old history. Madeline Whitehill, a Pennsylvania delegate and Bernie supporter, says she will vote for Clinton in November but feels “sad for our country and sad for the world” that Sanders did not prevail. “The real one has earned the loyalty and respect of people who worked with her in every stage of her life”.
The Democratic convention drew the party’s biggest stars to sweltering Philadelphia for the week-long event.
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