“I’m grieving,” Nelson said hours later after returning home to Norwich. “It’s fair to say it’s not what we, Bernie supporters, wanted.”
As a strident Sanders supporter and Vermont delegate to the Democratic National Convention, Nelson had held out hope against all odds that Sanders would continue to pursue the nomination at the convention later this month in Philadelphia.
“We could have headed to Philadelphia with a contested convention,” Nelson said. “Neither candidate has the official threshold of pledged delegates.”
Nelson and the other Vermont district delegates who are pledged to vote for Sanders don’t know if, or when, the candidate will release them to vote for Clinton. Sanders didn’t talk about that Tuesday in New Hampshire.
Nelson, an environmental activist and artist, said she heard from Sanders supporters around the world after the announcement. Some feel Sanders has betrayed them, she said, though that isn’t her reaction. After the speech, she hugged Sanders and his wife, Jane O’Meara Sanders, in support.
But as for backing Clinton herself, Nelson said that will take more persuasion. “I take very seriously the credibility issues Secretary Clinton has,” Nelson said. “I heard her parrot Bernie’s platform today, but I’m not convinced yet she will fulfill the promises she made.”
Ken Dean, a Sanders supporter from Montpelier who is fighting for credentials to the convention as a delegate after being ousted last week, said he doesn’t expect Sanders to release delegates before the convention.
Though Sanders has won concessions from Clinton on platform issues, Dean thinks he has more to win on party rules. Dean wants Sanders to use his leverage to eliminate the use of unpledged superdelegates and to insist that all states open their primary elections to voters of any political party.
Dean said watching Sanders’ speech Tuesday from Vermont was very emotional. “He took on the biggest machine in Democratic Party history. He took on the Clintons, and he came within inches,” Dean said. “To come as far as he did was miraculous.”
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As upsetting as this is – Bernie’s playing by the rules. When he signed up on the Democratic ticket he was obligated to endorse whoever was named the victor before the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on July 25th. As I understand it, had he not endorsed Hillary, he would have been stripped of a voice at the DNC (if not additional penalties). However, he didn’t give the endorsement up so easily and fought for many concessions from HRC’s camp. He could still actually be the candidate that is voted to be the Democratic Party’s candidate at the DNC, but to have any chance of that he had to take this step. Even if he loses that vote, since it is a contested primary with no clear winner in pledged delegates, Bernie made sure that much of his platform would be the Democratic Party’s platform. He didn’t ‘fall on his sword’ so to speak, he lived to fight on another day and hold HRC’s feet to the fire if she is the candidate going forward. That’s the kind of leader Bernie is – fighting for the people, not the glory. By doing so – we all win.
I guess this means that, if Hillary-ous is elected, Sanders will become Secretary of State?
I’m not grieving – as a strong Sanders supporter I’m celebrating, beaming with pride at what Bernie (and all of us) accomplished.
He started not being taken seriously by press/pundits, and turned it into a historic candidacy that challenged the power structure, moved the national discussion and the Democratic party further left, and laid the groundwork for more future successful progressive campaigns. A rporgessive platform, mobilizing millions of new voters, pulling Clinton to the left, etc… all significant and very real victories.
And I’m proud of Bernie for recognizing the real threat that Trump represents to the country and rallying around Hillary, whatever her (many) faults may be. When faced with the risk of a racist proto-fascist being elected President, there is only one acceptable position for any thinking progressive to take – the one Bernie took.
Rather than “grieving” all of us who support Bernie should be following his lead — not only working to defeat Trump, but staying committed to building progressive electoral and issues movements across the country. If Hillary is elected, we will need massive organizing to hold her accountable. (And if, heaven forbid, Trump wins we’ll need to be even more active in fighting back…)
The Sanders campaign has been a huge victory for progressive politics. No one should be “grieving”, we should be doubling down and organizing to build on those victories going forward.