Bernie Sanders
Bernie SandersWatchdog: Thousands may be committing fraud to lower student loan payments Al Sharpton calls for end to Democrats' infighting: 'The objective is Trump' Bernie Sanders, Frank Sinatra and income inequality MORE is coming to Philadelphia with his mind on the Democratic Party’s future — and his own.
Having created a movement campaign that galvanized millions of people, Sanders now finds himself in the unfamiliar role of party power broker as Democrats gather to nominate Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonDemocrats seize on Mueller hearings in election security push Trump: Mueller made Biden 'look like a dynamo' #45IsAPuppet trends after Trump appears in front of altered presidential seal MORE for president.
He’ll get the convention megaphone on Monday when he takes the stage for a prime-time address. Clinton’s campaign is hoping he’ll preach the theme of the four-day event: unity.
The Vermont senator, who endorsed Clinton after weeks of delicate negotiations, is increasingly adopting a two-pronged message heading toward the party powwow, blasting out progressive policy ideas while turning his fire toward Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump
Donald John TrumpTrump to host 9/11 first responders at victim fund bill signing next week Turkey is not the center of the world — but it has our attention Photo of Mexican National Guard halting crying migrant mother and child goes viral MORE.
“I have a message for Donald Trump: No, we’re not going to hate Latinos or Muslims. We are going to stand together,” Sanders said this week in a string of tweets. “We will defeat Donald Trump because we know that love trumps hatred.”
The Clinton camp has worked behind the scenes to build bridges with the party’s progressive wing, which flocked to Sanders in droves during the extended primary fight. The Democratic National Convention is billing Monday’s speeches as “united together.”
Michael Briggs, a spokesman for Sanders, declined to comment on the focus of the independent’s speech because it was still being written.
But the convention theme of building a stronger middle class lines up with an important element of Sanders’s campaign: his call to fight the “billionaire class” and create a fairer economy.
Sanders and his staff are also expected to huddle with delegates ahead of his speech Monday, according to The Associated Press.
The Sanders campaign had planned to hold an up to 40,000-person rally in Philadelphia on Sunday, but its permit was denied. According to the Philadelphia mayor’s office, Ashburn Field, where the event would have been held, “has not been opened for expressive activity to the general public.”
The campaign is keeping a tight lid on the specifics of Monday’s events and won’t say how long the independent senator will stay at the Democratic convention. But Sanders is expected to use the meeting to talk about the next steps of the political movement that its adherents affectionately call “the revolution.”
Sanders is working to create “successor organizations” to his presidential campaign to influence down-ballot campaigns and shape the national agenda.
“Our goal will be to advance the progressive agenda that we believe in and to elect like-minded candidates at the federal, state and local levels who are committed to accomplishing our goals,” he wrote in a Medium post hinting at his plans.
The senator has publicly backed away from staging a fight over the Democratic platform heading into Philadelphia, in part because many of his priorities — including the $15 minimum wage — have been included.
But he hasn’t stopped calling for changes to the party’s primary process, which his campaign repeatedly criticized as giving Clinton an unfair advantage.
Sanders is pushing to open up the primaries to independent voters and reform the use of superdelegates, the party officials who can cast their vote for any candidate. Superdelegates overwhelmingly backed the former first lady’s bid before the primaries began and never wavered, even as Sanders racked up victories.
He’s pledging to take his fight to the convention floor if needed. Referring to superdelegates, he told USA Today, “That’s not Democratic and that’s wrong and that’s got to change.”
Whether Democrats will accede to his demands remains to be seen. Sanders is an outsider to the party, having never registered as a Democrat or participated in the party structure, so allies could be hard to come by.
It’s also unclear whether Sanders’s push for changes to the Democratic contests will be enough to assuage his progressive supporters, thousands of whom are expected to protest outside of the convention.
Wary of Clinton, they’re pushing for the resignation of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, along with the elimination of all superdelegates and the repeal of voter ID laws.
Though Sanders has argued that there are too many superdelegates, 14 organizations sent a letter to the convention Rules Committee, the national party and convention delegates ahead of the looming fight calling for the system to be eliminated.
The letter, which was backed by Sanders superdelegate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard
Tulsi GabbardPanel: Tulsi Gabbard sues Google for discrimination Hillicon Valley: Senate Intel releases election security report | GOP blocks votes on election security bills | Gabbard sues Google over alleged censorship | Barr meets state AGs on tech antitrust concerns Tulsi Gabbard sues Google over censorship claims MORE (D-Hawaii), argued the current system undermines “the purported values of the party and its members, and reduces the party’s moral authority.”
On Saturday, the Rules Committee shot down an amendment to abolish superdelegates, but nearly unanimously adopted a different measure to greatly reduce the number of unpledged delegates by the next election.
The amendment to put an end to superdelegates entirely did get enough support to allow for a minority report to be taken up in front of the entire convention.
A group of hundreds of Sanders delegates, acting independently of the campaign, have also sent warning shots to Clinton over her vice presidential pick, threatening that many could “nonviolently and emphatically” protest on the convention floor.
The Bernie Delegates Network — a group created by RootsAction.org and Progressive Democrats of America — blasted out the survey warning that Sanders supporters won’t accept a VP choice like Sen. Tim Kaine
Timothy (Tim) Michael KaineGOP chairman yanks Saudi bill after Democrats muscle through tougher language Tensions flare amid Saudi fight in Senate Senate confirms Esper to be Trump's Defense chief MORE (D-Va.) or Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro.
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, separately, is urging Democrats to push for stronger language opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal in a post-election lame-duck Congress, even as the Sanders campaign has backed away from publicly demanding tougher language.
Despite the potential headaches, Clinton backers, eager to show a contrast to a visibly fractured GOP convention, are adamant that Sanders and his supporters will be with them.
Sen. Ben Cardin
Benjamin (Ben) Louis CardinCan new US Strategy on Women, Peace & Security give women a real seat at the table? Ask Afghan women Maryland lawmakers slam 'despicable' Trump remark about journalists on newsroom shooting anniversary Democrats leery of Sanders plan to cancel student loan debt MORE (D-Md.) said Sanders will play a “critically important role,” including drumming up support among younger voters.
“We are united,” he added. “We are united behind our candidate, Hillary Clinton.”
