OPINION:
Vermont Sen. Bernard Sanders promised to bring his revolution all the way to the Philadelphia convention, and boy did he deliver.
Disaffected Sanders supporters erupted the Democratic National Convention on Monday, booing practically everybody off stage who urged support for Hillary Clinton — even Mr. Sanders, himself, earlier in the day.
They cheered for right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ InfoWars bus “2016 Hillary Clinton for Prison,” as it passed them on the streets. In the convention hall, many were chanting “Lock her Up,” a meme made famous by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie last week at the Republican Convention, which was highly criticized by the mainstream media and the DNC itself for being tasteless.
They booed New Hampshire Sen Jeanne Shaheen when she mentioned Mrs. Clinton, AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka and Adriana Espaillat, former NAACP head Ben Jealous, Rep. Martha Fudge, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, and even Rev. Cynthia Hale, who opened the session with a benediction, which mentioned Mrs. Clinton’s name.
Mr. Sanders had to personally take to Twitter to plead with his supporters to stop being disruptive. Comedian Sarah Silverman, herself a Sanders supporter, was booed for telling the convention crowd they were being “ridiculous.”
“Can I just say to the Bernie or bust people, you’re being ridiculous,” Ms. Silverman said improvising, trying to reason with the rowdy crowd.
By the end of the night, Mr. Sanders seemed to quell the rising tide, however, the fact that there’s a roll-call vote on Tuesday, rather than Mrs. Clinton receiving the nomination by acclamation — or unanimous nomination — shows how deep Mr. Sanders’ supporters’ loyalty runs. Mrs. Clinton allowed President Barack Obama a nomination by acclamation after losing the 2008 primary.
“Thank you for being here, and for all the work you’ve done. I look forward to your votes during the roll call on Tuesday night,” Mr. Sanders said during his speech Monday night.
Mr. Sanders — and Mrs. Clinton’s team for that matter — is betting giving Mr. Sanders’ delegates the chance to cast their ballot for Mr. Sanders will help them get the anger out of their systems, so the rest of the convention can move smoothly, without the threat of protest. Or maybe it won’t.
Mr. Sanders has been feisty on the campaign trail, continually pointing out Mrs. Clinton’s deficits when it comes to guarding against Wall Street and the corruption of establishment politics. He’s been running against her political machine, an uphill battle the entire way, and pointed out what many people in America (not only in the Democratic party) feel – that our politics has been corrupted.
As liberal online magazine Mother Jones put it, Mr. Sanders “convinced his followers that Hillary was a corporate warmonger more concerned with lining her own pockets than with progressive principles, and they still believe it. And why wouldn’t they? Their hero told them it was true.”
You see, some bells can’t be un-rung, especially if they’re truthful.
The DNC email leaks confirmed Mr. Sanders’ campaign’s long suspicion that the organization was rigging the contest on Mrs. Clinton’s behalf. Superdelegates — and the incredibly undemocratic process behind their role in the Democratic nominating contest — further infuriate Mr. Sanders’ supporters. Too many coin tosses were won, and too few debates were held. The process was rigged.
And then there’s Mrs. Clinton’s public record — Mr. Sanders is spot on about it.
Mrs. Clinton has been in some sort of public service for more than 25 years, everybody knows her and yet the majority of Americans don’t like her. Sixty-eight percent — a record high — surveyed in a CNN/ORC poll this week said they don’t trust Mrs. Clinton. After being lied to for more than 18 months on her use of a private email server, why would they?
Whether or not Mr. Sanders’ supporters come around to Mrs. Clinton, the display at the DNC last night showed just how raw the divide is within the Democratic Party.
Many argue that Mr. Sanders’ voters will come around — that nothing is worse than a Trump presidency. Mr. Sanders argued that himself Monday night.
It’s unknown how persuasive that reasoning will be on Mr. Sanders’ passionate supporters — who really do believe they’re part of a revolution — but not Mrs. Clinton’s.
An ABC News poll released this week showed one in four Sanders supporters said they will not cast their ballot for Mrs. Clinton in November, and of that number, half will vote for her GOP rival Donald Trump and the other half will stay at home.
Those are some statistics that need to turn around ASAP in order for Mrs. Clinton to win the White House.
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