Democratic National Convention

August 1, 2016

The vital spiritual victory of Bernie Sanders

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Come November, we’re going to have a reckoning. Not just between two parties and their two unfavorable candidates, but a reckoning among a plurality of ideas on how to move forward as a nation. That includes the protest vote, the third party vote, the write-in vote. We’re all going to make a vital choice, because the results of this election will directly affect the quality of our lives for decades to come.

And what is perhaps most interesting, and most dangerous about this vital choice is how emotionally loaded it is. Donald Trump has his fascistic populism. Hillary Clinton broke the glass ceiling. And Bernie Sanders took the DNC stage last week and was serenaded for three minutes before he could speak. People openly wept, as his words were cathartic to those who endured a fifteen-month grassroots campaign that awoke millions to the progressive cause.

But here’s where the spiritual victory lies. No other candidate had supporters marching in the streets in celebration–political celebration!–of an honest and trustworthy presidential candidate who vowed to fight for the poor, the disenfranchised, the oppressed. A presidential candidate who eschewed corporate money in favor of my hard-earned twenty-seven bucks. A presidential candidate who rose from humble beginnings as the son of Holocaust survivors, to his college years of getting arrested for protesting segregation, to his ascendance as a senator and as a powerful force for progressives across the nation.

All of this indicated the ferocity of his fight, the will of his supporters, the moral soundness of his policy.

A presidential candidate who inspired me to get up, every day, for months to make contact with fellow Bernie supporters through the NGP VAN Votebuilder database, where I connected with thousands of potential volunteers across Southeastern New England and helped to get them canvassing and phone banking. A presidential candidate who I began to think of as a role model, not just for me, but for the children I might have. A presidential candidate whose speeches still leave my eager heart brimming with hope, and my headstrong will primed for a battle with the status quo.

Bernie “The Bern Man” Sanders, as one internet meme suggested for his deserved prizefighter moniker. Or, “Birdie” Sanders for the peace doves. The special moments poured in–the bird on the podium in Oregon, the guy yelling “fuck off!” to billionaires in Indiana–and none of them were scripted, each essential to the emotional core of the Sanders campaign, each a bright and unique facet of an enduring movement.

That movement has won the spiritual battle. And that presidential candidate, by virtue of the empathetic victory he created in the minds and hearts of millions of dedicated supporters, should have won the Democratic nomination. Senator Sanders was the most unanimously supported candidate at the convention; Clinton supporters had already said they would support him if he won, yet many Bernie supporters will not say the same of Clinton because of her issues with public trust.

We should be facing a true no-brainer choice: an honest and decent man fighting to restore democracy and to empower the disempowered versus a loud-mouthed hawkish bully who would trample the rights of anyone who crossed him.

Instead, we’re going to have a reckoning between Clintonian business as usual and a potential form of Trumpist American hell. Neither of those candidates had supporters marching in the streets. Neither of those candidates broke fundraising records entirely by way of small, individual contributions. Neither of those candidates poll favorably, and neither of those candidates have the moral standing of Bernie Sanders.

So, we have a real battle ahead of us. The first step is to beat Trump, and the next is to keep Clinton accountable. But thanks to the spiritual fire of the Bernie revolution, I think we’re up to the fight. No matter which way we decide to go–Democrat, independent, third party–we can thank Bernie for bringing us together in the first place. Because without him, I wouldn’t be writing this article, and you wouldn’t be reading it.

Instead, we’re out in the public forum, having a debate about what to do next. It’s messy. We disagree. But we find common ground. And we move forward. That’s what democracy is, and it is my core belief that Senator Sanders has already brought us to a vital level of engagement with and awareness of the political process.

No other candidate has inspired such action. Let that be the victory you keep in your heart as we move forward.

July 31, 2016July 31, 2016

Life as a local Bernie delegate at the DNC

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As it was for many Bernie Sanders delegates, last week’s Democratic National Convention was the first convention for me. I had an idea of what to expect, but I was less prepared for the dynamics associated with our underdog movement.

Throughout the campaign, I followed Bernie far and wide. I believed in his positions on trade deals, fossil fuels and regime change. Many of us gave him $27, many of us more than once. Bernie was not just a candidate, he was our political savior. To me he was the last hope for the future. He was our leader, our salvation, our messenger who represented the disenfranchised, the left wing, the Greens, the progressives, independents, those who were anti-Hillary and those who were anti-Trump and those who just liked him for his honesty, integrity, grit, humor and unbelievable energy.

Some 1,900 of us followed him into the Democratic National Convention. He wanted our voices to be heard. He wanted our votes to be counted. He did not want the DNC to be a convention of just the haves, the rich and famous and the 1 percent. We chanted “NO TPP”, “NO NEW WARS”, “BERNIE” and more. We protested, we walked out, we remained faithful to Bernie and his message and it was not easy.

Logistically, Philadelphia was challenging to get around. Each day was spent waiting for buses to take us from destination to destination. On an average day, delegates from Rhode Island were spending 3 or more hours waiting for, or in, buses. Roads were closed, bus drivers had no idea where to go, UBER drivers were clueless and it was HOT. For some of us, this impeded our ability to attend protests and to organize effectively. It was difficult to say the least.

At the convention, delegation after delegation complained about how the states were organized on the floor. The RI delegation had similar issues. We were placed in 2 different rows in 2 different sections which hurt the ability for our 13 delegates to look united for Bernie. Other states had similar issues, the DNC obviously wanted the delegations to have the look and feel of all for one and one for all for Hillary and this was absolutely not the case. The convention, in my opinion, was designed to be a talking piece for the super delegates, No one else really mattered.

Tuesday night was especially staged. It was impossible to tell which states went for Bernie as the superdelegate votes were counted in with the pledged delegate votes. Our 12 percent victory was not even mentioned as we were silenced and not allowed to speak up on the convention floor. The chair of the party, House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, got that honor as that is the tradition. This is just another way in which we as Bernie supporters were marginalized. After the roll call count which was not shown on any screen on the floor of the convention MANY WALKED OUT. None of us believed that Sanders wanted a voice vote by proclamation the majority felt that there had to be an intimidation factor in his decision.

Throughout the rest of the convention there were many good speeches and some not so good ones. One of the most emotional speeches was delivered by Bernie’s brother Larry as he announced the count for the international vote. Of course, Bernie’s speech nominating Hillary was both inspiring and depressing at the same time. On Thursday night The Reverend William Barber seemed to be channeling the Bernie Sanders message. He was dynamic insightful and everything that the convention needed.

On the other hand there were those channeling the Republican mantra with Leon Panetta and General Allen. The war and imperialist message was alive and well and living inside the DNC. Chants of “USA” drowned out calls for “no new wars.” The true issues facing the people of this country were merely a blip. Indigenous rights, the Black Lives Matter movement, homelessness, poverty, hunger, the environment were glossed over by a speaker here and there and were just a distraction in the coronation process.

On the plus side most of RI superdelegates were readily accessible. I had conversations, with senators Whitehouse and Reed, congressmen Cicilline and Langevin and Mayor Elorza regarding my opposition to the Clear River Energy Center in Burrillville. They all received packets on our grassroots efforts to stop the power plant. They listened with open ears on that issue and other concerns different delegates had.

A highlight of the convention was when Bernie Sanders spoke to us at our hotel breakfast and thanked us for our efforts in his primary win in the state. Bernie spoke about unity to us and to all at the convention and he reiterated how important it was for Trump to be defeated.

A shout out goes to the convention organizers for RI – Susan Della Rosa, Ann Gooding and Annie Pease who did a fabulous job putting it all together for us. On a sad note the Clinton delegation lost one of their own during the convention as Mark Weiner passed away on Tuesday our entire Bernie delegation expresses our deepest sympathy to the Weiner family.

July 29, 2016

Protest the system, but support Clinton

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One of the most frustrating events that I saw at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night was when Jill Stein joined Sanders delegates during their walkout protest of Clinton’s nomination with a Fox News crew in tow. I understand her motivation–to woo disillusioned Sanders supporters–but even more frustrating was Stein’s willingness to promote the walk-out on social media using the #DemExit hashtag. That, unfortunately, sounds a whole lot like Brexit to the uninformed observer, and creates an uncomfortable association between two very different political movements.

However, I don’t blame those Sanders delegates who chose to walk out. We all know that the DNC, at the very least, “slanted” the primaries in Clinton’s favor and sought to undermine the Sanders campaign. We all know that Clinton, by way of the FBI’s statement on her email scandal, is inherently dishonest, even to her own supporters, and that collusion between her campaign and the DNC possibly occurred during the primaries. I don’t blame those Sanders delegates for protesting, or booing, or for feeling jilted.

But I do blame them for not following Bernie’s lead. Sanders, in his speech on Monday night, called for unity in the Democratic Party. And at the end of the roll call vote on Tuesday night, he graciously moved to nominate Clinton after he did not win the vote. He made a selfless gesture toward unity, and not just Democratic unity.

He made a gesture toward unifying against Donald Trump.

I don’t want to buy into the fear-mongering, but beating Trump at the polls in November is of the utmost importance. His narcissistic nihilism, tinged with fascism, framed by xenophobia, and fueled by racism is, in the words of the Washington Post editorial board, a “unique and present danger” that the GOP has officially presented to the general electorate. Now Trump is everyone’s problem. And, unfortunately, Hillary Clinton is now the only major party nominee that stands between Donald Trump and the presidency.

For those who aren’t willing to risk a third party vote, this choice boils down to a difficult moral dilemma. One one hand, we have a deceitful neoliberal who lacks favorability and is quite possibly corrupt, yet unarguably has a qualified history in American national politics and has the backing of prominent progressive politicians, including senators Warren and Sanders. On the other hand, we have a loud-mouthed bully with no political experience, who doesn’t know Constitutional law, who would trample on free speech rights and freedom of the press, who openly discriminates against Muslims and Mexicans, who tacitly supports racial violence, and who asked Russia to help reveal Clinton’s lost emails.

Democratic unity, today, is not about rallying behind Clinton as a nominee, nor even about rallying around what she represents. It isn’t unity within the Democratic Party per se. It isn’t even about Clinton, or Warren, or Sanders, as Bernie has pointed out numerous times in his speeches, particularly on Monday night. It’s about Donald Trump, which is exactly what Trump wants because everything in his world must be about him. In his own words during his acceptance speech, he said of America’s problems, “I alone can fix [them].”

What Trump doesn’t know is that no president alone can “fix it” (and Trump “doesn’t know what he doesn’t know and he’s uninterested in finding out“). The same rule applies to Clinton, yet she knows that. But the slight benefit of a Clinton presidency is that she has the support of progressives like Sanders and Warren and will be held accountable by them. They will influence her decisions, help frame progressive legislation, and approve Supreme Court picks that will overturn Citizens United. That’s what checks and balances are for. And Clinton, despite her massive shortcomings, is expected to defend our Constitutional rights by her progressive peers, and she would do well to repair her lack of public trust by delivering a strong progressive agenda.

Trump, however, is expected to trample on our rights by his jeering supporters and the foolish GOP politicians who endorsed him. His VP pick, Mike Pence, has signed legislation that legalized open discrimination against LGBTQ people. And the most frightening part is that the most ignorant of Trump supporters don’t even realize the danger he poses to their own liberties and freedoms as Americans. Trump would have control of the FBI, NSA, CIA, TSA, and every other executive branch agency (not to mention the military) that he could easily, under executive order, command to act out his hostilities.

And this is where I say what I’ve never wanted to say: a vote for the Democratic nominee is more important than voting my conscience, at least this time around. Of course, in terms of my personal values, I want to vote for Jill Stein, but I do not place voting for my own values above protecting what liberties and freedoms that we already have. To do so would be selfish and disrespectful to people who would face the worst treatment by a Trump presidency. While I admire Stein for tackling the two-party system, now is not the time to do so, and openly dividing Democrats under the #DemExit banner is counterproductive to the goal of keeping Trump from the presidency.

Yes, Rhode Island is deep blue and a vote for Stein may be safe here, but against the broad and insidious influence of Trump, we shouldn’t take any state for granted, especially with Clinton’s high negatives and recent drop in the polls. So, instead of voting Green or staying home on election day, we should consider following Bernie’s lead to vote Democrat in November. Bernie knows that this movement has now become about the long game. He has vowed to continue the Political Revolution, and the first step toward gaining ground is beating Donald Trump, because under a President Trump, there’s no chance to pass any progressive legislation. I have no doubt that he’d veto anything he wants without a second thought.

There’s nothing I’d love more than to see a Bernie Sanders presidency, or even Green Party viability. But second to that, I’ll take Trump getting blown out of the water on election day. To vote Democrat is not to just reject Trump as a nominee, but to reject the hateful and powerful zeitgeist he’s stirred up among a surprising number of voters in our country. That’s where our choice as voters goes beyond voting against a candidate. It’s about voting against what Trump has come to represent. Preventing the rightward march toward peril that Trump has inspired is absolutely imperative to continuing the experiment of American democracy, however flawed that experiment may be.

July 28, 2016

Obama makes powerful case for Hillary

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On a night that began with vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine being nominated by acclamation, Democrats – and one high-profile Independent – squared off against Trump and built a solid affirmative case for a Hillary Clinton presidency.

Aiming squarely at the image that Trump projected in his convention last week, Obama offered a scathing dissection.

“The reason he’ll lose it is because he’s selling the American people short,” he said. “We are not a fragile people, we’re not a frightful people. Our power doesn’t come from some self-declared savior promising that he alone can restore order as long as we do things his way. We don’t look to be ruled.”

Obama spent a major part of his speech sharing his first-hand experience of Clinton’s strengths.

“For four years,” Obama said, “I had a front-row seat to her intelligence, her judgment and her discipline. I came to realize that her unbelievable work ethic wasn’t for praise, it wasn’t for attention, that she was in this for everyone who needs a champion.”

In a moment that was both self-effacing and a play to his popularity with the Democratic base, Obama offered himself as a point of comparison. “I can say with confidence there has never been a man or a woman, not me, not Bill, nobody more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as president of the United States of America.”

When his speech wrapped up, Hillary came out to join him on stage for a brief hug and wave. The Wells Fargo Arena, which was packed to the rafters, exploded in prolonged applause and cheers.

Members of the Rhode Island delegation were still smiling about it this morning. “It was a terrific night,” said Rhode Island Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed. “The speech that President Obama gave was phenomenal, and I can’t wait for this evening when we see the first woman officially accept the nomination to the Presidency of the United States.”

“It was exciting to meet vice-president (candidate) Kaine for the first time,” said RI Rep. Deb Ruggiero. “I love his social justice agenda. I think what President Obama did was galvanize everyone, whether you’re a Democrat or you’re an unaffiliated to realize that we need to elect Hillary Clinton as the next President. We cannot have someone like Donald Trump. As Mike Bloomberg said, ‘Hillary Clinton understands this is not reality television, this is reality.”

Kaine gave a solid, largely introductory speech that saw him slipping into a Donald Trump impersonation, asking the audience if they accepted all the promises the Republican made when he said, “Believe me.” “I’m going to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it. Believe me.” “There’s nothing suspicious in my tax returns. Believe me.” “Does anybody here believe him?” The attendees in the Wells Fargo Center thundered, “No!”

A high point of the evening, for many, was Vice President Joe Biden’s speech. In a fiery address that played to his middle-class sensibilities, Biden offered a blunt critique of Trump’s so-called populism.

Said Biden, “His cynicism and undoubtedly his lack of empathy and compassion can be summed up in that phrase he is most proud of making famous: “You’re fired.” I’m not joking. Think about that. Think about that. Think about everything you learned as a child. No matter where you were raised, how can there be pleasure in saying, “You’re fired.” He is trying to tell us he cares about the middle class. Give me a break. That is a bunch of malarkey.”

There were more pointed critiques. Former candidate Martin O’Malley chided the Republicans: “Anger never fed a hungry child.” Retired Rear Admiral John Hutson got in the first dig over Trump’s call for Russian hackers to try to uncover additional Clinton e-mails. “That’s not law and order, that’s criminal intent.”

Independent Mike Bloomberg, who made it clear that he was not there to endorse the Democratic platform, nonetheless endorsed Hillary and, in no uncertain terms, drew a sharp distinction between his own status and that of the Republican nominee. “I’ve built a business and I didn’t start it with a million-dollar check from my father.”

July 28, 2016July 28, 2016

Nuns on the Bus visit RI

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The Nuns on the Bus came to Providence Saturday night as part of a 13 state tour that ended at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. At each stop, the Nuns held meetings where concerned residents could share their concerns about a range of topics – including tax justice, living wages, family-friendly workplaces, access to democracy, healthcare, citizenship and housing. These meetings were held under the general title of “Mending the Gaps” and the discussion points and concerns from each meeting are to be delivered in Philadelphia.

The Nuns arrived at St. Michael’s Church in South Providence to the music of the Extraordinary Rendition Band and St. Michael’s own drummers.

During the discussions the Nuns learned about the obscene child poverty rates in Rhode Island, the criminality and disconnect of many of our elected leaders and our state’s support for the fossil fuel industry and the environmental racism such support entails. The meeting filled the basement of St. Michael’s.

From Providence the Nuns headed to Hartford, Scranton and Newark before arriving in Philly on July 26. You can follow their progress here.

July 27, 2016July 27, 2016

Cicilline to Obama: Leave Trump out of the loop

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Congressman David Cicilline asked President Obama to not share with Donald Trump the national security secrets typically confided in candidates for president. Earlier today, Trump publicly prodded Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s email.

He sent this letter to the president today.

President Obama,

Since 1952, the White House has authorized the U.S. intelligence community to provide major party presidential nominees with classified briefings on the state of international affairs. These briefings feature the discussion of sensitive intelligence, and are designed to help prepare candidates for the solemn national security responsibilities that they will assume upon taking office.

As the Republican nominee for president, Donald Trump will presumably be eligible for this courtesy in the near future. However, on July 27, 2016, Mr. Trump urged Russian intelligence services to conduct cyberespionage operations into the correspondence of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope that you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily be our press.” In light of these recent statements, we respectfully ask you to rescind Mr. Trump’s access to these briefings.

It is our belief that these statements, when considered in the broader context of the Republican nominee’s prior conduct and ties to the Russian government, warrant a re-examination of his access to this sensitive intelligence. These remarks reflect more than just a lack of good judgment—it is an explicit call for intervention from an adversarial foreign power to undermine the American democratic process, and represents an action just short of outright treason.

Unfortunately, this intervention would be only the latest chapter in Russian efforts to interfere in this presidential election. In May, National Intelligence Director James Clapper announced that the intelligence community had seen some indications that foreign governments were attempting to hack U.S. presidential campaigns. And in June, CrowdStrike identified Russian intelligence agencies as the source behind the hack of the Democratic National Committee—an assessment that has been largely corroborated by the U.S. intelligence community.

The Republican nominee’s call for hostile foreign action represents a step beyond mere partisan politics and represents a threat to the republic itself. It suggests that he is unfit to receive sensitive intelligence, and may willingly compromise our national security if he is permitted to do so. With this in mind, we respectfully ask that you withhold the intelligence briefing to Mr. Trump in the interests of national security.

Sincerely,
David N. Cicilline
Member of Congress

July 27, 2016

Martin O’Malley visits RI delegation as they reflect on Clinton’s nomination

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Two former Presidential candidates visited the RI delegation at breakfast this morning as the group was still reflecting on the historic nomination of Hillary Clinton. Before Sen. Bernie Sanders stopped by, Gov. Martin O’Malley paid a visit and offered his thoughts on the convention and the need for unity going forward.

“Watching every night of our convention unfold, people have seen a real party, a diverse party, with competing interests, competing ideas, but at the end of the day, people that are very united in our belief that our diversity is our greatest strength,” O’Malley said.

Speaking about the general election, O’Malley said, “Of course we’re concerned. The specter on the other side is a real menace to the country. But the answer to defeating Donald Trump is not to vibrate at his frequency but to vibrate at a higher frequency. I think Dr. King said it well when he said that you can’t drive out hate with hate or violence with violence, only light and love can do that. So let’s make sure we come together in this next 48 hours so that we leave this city of brotherly — and sisterly — love resonating at that level and offering a better vision forward for our country.”

And O’Malley had some words for the Sanders supporters. “To any of you that were involved with Sen. Sanders campaign, congratulations on being able to bring to our party for the fall the most progressive Democratic platform we’ve ever had. It would not have happened were it not for that primary contest, and y’all should be proud too.”

The delegation was still abuzz over the historic nomination of Hillary Clinton as the first woman to lead a major party ticket.

House Speaker Nick Mattielo Mattiello said it was “an honor” to have been part of the nominating process. “I think it will be great for the country to have our first female President. I think she’s very qualified, I think she has a unique perspective, and I think she’s just going to be a great president at the right time. I’m very excited about the process, and I was very appreciative of being able to play a small role in it.”

RI Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed shared that sentiment. “It was great to be a part of last night — and the night before. Michelle Obama’s speech was absolutely what the party needed in terms of unifying the party, bringing the party together. As a woman elected official, I certainly share the excitement that was in that room last night and the possibility of the first woman President.”

Rep. Grace Diaz said that it was a “privilege” to have been part of the process. “History comes to your mind, and you say, ‘I can’t believe it, I’m experiencing this! I’m living this!’ It put tears in my eyes. I’m the first Dominican-American in the history of the United States elected to the state level, and I know the feeling inside — a big responsibility, because you cannot fail. You cannot have the luxury of not accomplishing what you’re supposed to. I think that’s what must be in Hillary’s mind now.”

Said Jamestown Rep. Deborah Ruggiero “It was electrifying. It’s every little girl’s dream. And when they showed every single President, beginning with George Washington and stopping with Obama, and the glass ceiling shattered and there was her face — it was, ‘wow!’ It’s real. And all the little girls sitting around her saying, I may be just the first one, but one of you will be the next one. It was just a great message for women, for boys, for men, for everyone. It’s just where our country needs to go. America is great. We’ve got to keep it great. We’ve got to keep it moving and Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine are going to do that for working people.”

Being part of the delegation, Ruggiero said, was “pretty cool.” She added, “It’s really neat to stand up there and to know that you’re framing part of history. To know that your values are such that you want to see a person who believes in what’s right for working people, making sure that we raise the minimum wage, that we have healthcare for everyone, that we support education, all of those values are Democratic values. And to be able to be there to nominate not only the right candidate, but the smartest candidate, the hardest-working candidate, with the most heart, who just happens to be a woman.”

Former representative and gubernatorial candidate Myrth York agreed with the sense of history the delegation had just witnessed. “It was incredibly exciting. And I know the historic significance of it, and the work is still to be done, it’s one step forward, but even just on a personal level, for her, and having just a tiny sense of what she’s done and committed to to make this happen is extraordinary. The glass cracking? It was hokey, but it was fabulous. I didn’t see it coming, I just thought there would be her photo next. That was a brilliant piece of stagecraft.”

July 27, 2016

Bernie Sanders meets RI delegation

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Sen. Bernie Sanders met with the RI Delegation during their breakfast meeting this morning, and delivered a 6-minute talk thanking local Democrats for their support, urging continued activism, and stressing the importance of uniting to defeat Donald Trump in November.

July 26, 2016

RI delegation celebrates historic roll call vote

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At the roll call vote in Philadelphia this evening, the Democratic National Convention formally nominated Hillary Rodham Clinton as their candidate for president. The votes of Rhode Island’s 32 delegates were announced by Speaker of the House Nick Mattielo, who, in the tradition of nominating speeches, took the opportunity to sing the praises of the state.

“Rhode Island is the proud home of the great Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressmen David Cicilline and James Langevin,” said Mattielo. “Home of outstanding beaches and coastlines, some of the best in the world. Great companies such as CVS, Textron, Hasbro, and now GE. A state that has recently proudly elected the first female governor, Gina Raimondo. The smallest state in the union with one of the biggest hearts. Home of the best restaurants in the country, great quality of life, great people. Rhode Island proudly casts 13 votes for Senator Bernie Sanders, and 19 votes for the next President of the United States, Hillary Rodham Clinton.”

When the roll call vote concluded, attendees in the Wells Fargo Center went into a prolonged celebration, cheering and waving Hillary placards.

Rep. Jim Langevin (CD-2) with RI Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea at the DNC.

“It was so exciting to be in this convention hall,” Langevin said, “When it became official that Hillary Clinton is the first woman to be the Democratic nominee, of any major party, for President of the United States. I’m glad it’s under the Democratic banner. I’m so proud to be a long-time supporter of Hillary Clinton, and I look forward to working so hard for her throughout the election cycle.”

Democratic Party Chair Joe McNamara echoed those sentiments.

“It was great to see the delegation come together and a tremendous experience,” he said. “I’m very proud of every single member of our delegation. The speaker did a great job promoting the positive attributes of Rhode Island versus the negative speech that happened last week in Cleveland, Ohio. He got the coastline, he got our corporations, he got GE moving in — it’s all about jobs and the economy and quality of life, and I think it came across very well.”

July 26, 2016

RI delegation praises Michelle Obama, Bernie Sanders

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Members of the Rhode Island delegation were still buzzing about the first-night speakers at the Democratic National Convention as they met for breakfast in Philadelphia.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said he was particularly moved by the reaction of Bernie Sanders supporters during his speech.

“Seeing the Bernie people, the young people, in the close-ups on TV weeping as he spoke, was a reminder to all of us how deeply some people put their hearts into that movement,” he said. “For those of us who have lost primaries, either as a candidate or because our candidate didn’t win, it was a reminder that there is a real sorrow and a real adjustment that’s required.”

Whitehouse was impressed by the way Sanders worked to bridge the gap between his supporters and Hillary Clinton. “I honestly don’t know that he could have done that job any better. Clearly he really wanted to try to make sure that took place. He really put his heart into it, and I think he will continue to. Nobody – Bernie voter, Hillary voter – wants to live in a Trump presidency America. Nobody.”

For Congressman David Cicilline, Michelle Obama was a highlight.

“The speech of the First Lady was the most powerful speech of the night,” he said. “She reminded us all of the progress we’ve made — ‘I wake up every morning in a house built by slaves, and I watch my children play on the front lawn’ — it reminded you that this is a great country and we’ve come a very long way, but she also recognized that we have many challenges, that many people are struggling in this country, and that we need a president who understands that struggle, who has real solutions, and that can bring us together. We have only solved problems in this country when we have come together, worked together to overcome them. The tenor of last night’s speeches was such a contrast to the Republicans. They were speeches filled with pragmatism but with tremendous hope and optimism about what is great about this country and our ability to build upon the progress we’ve made.”

Clinton delegate and former candidate for governor Clay Pell agreed that Michelle Obama stole the show.

“The highlight for me was Michelle Obama,” he said. “She was incredible. The whole place lit up. She was an inspiration. The First Lady’s message was about what her own family had been through, and the power of believing in this country. She had a very powerful story about how she lives in a house that was built by slaves, and is now watching two young, smart black girls play on the White House lawn and grow up and believe that because of Hillary Clinton that they too could become president of the United States.”

Pell had kind words for Sanders and his supporters.

“Sanders gave a great, impassioned plea,” he said. “Not only to his own supporters, but to the country, and shared a lot of the values we all way to keep moving forward. I hope he continues to be a leader in the Democratic Party, because he is a person not only of integrity but of vision, and he’s independent in so many ways, and we need that. He’s brought young people, and people of all kinds into politics, and it’s important that we embrace that and recognize that what he’s talking about is the future.”

Sanders delegate Linda Ujifusa wanted to keep the focus on the senator from Vermont.

“I think people should focus on the fact that we were all cheering Bernie,” she said. “I was really impressed with his speech. Of course, as he pointed out, we are disappointed. But his message, of trying to keep the political revolution that he began going is really, really important. I personally decided to run for office based on Bernie’s call to action, because for people to sit on the sidelines is to admit that we’re not willing to be involved.”

Still, some Sanders supporters were unhappy with the message. “I felt betrayed,” said Sanders delegate Laura Perez. “At the beginning of his speech, he even suggested, still vote for me. And then at the end of the speech, okay, you’re all in. This is what we’re going to do.”

Sanders delegate and organizer Lauren Niedel shared in the disappointment.

“Bernie’s speech was inspirational and showed why he should be our next nominee,” she said. “I’m not at all surprised by the message of Bernie’s speech. He stated from the beginning that was his intention. What I’m disappointed in is that if all was fair, if his message could have been seen and heard by more people, and if independents and unaffiliated had their say in each of the primaries, Bernie would be our nominee.”

RI Democratic Party Chairman Joe McNamara praised New Jersey Senator Cory Booker.

“Michelle Obama was great, and I believe we saw a rising star in Cory Booker,” he said. “Booker really took it to the mountaintop with ‘we will rise together.’ That will be a speech that will definitely go down in the history of the Democratic Party, and we’ll be hearing a lot more from Cory Booker.”

“Bernie did an excellent job,” added McNamara. “The speech was wonderful, and everyone — everyone — cheered him.”

McNamara added, “Sen. Sanders stating that this campaign is not about Bernie Sanders, it is not about Hillary Clinton, it’s about the future of our nation, our children and grandchildren, was something, to me, that really hit home.” McNamara said that felt like Sanders’ way of telling his followers, “We’ve worked very hard, but it’s time to support the platform that represents many of the ideals of the campaign.”

July 25, 2016July 26, 2016

Roll call vote for Sanders anticipated at DNC

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With Sanders organizers fanning out to all the convention hotels to collect delegate signatures supporting a roll-call vote, there was reaction from both the Clinton camp and among local delegates at their daily breakfast meeting this morning.

“We anticipate there will be a roll call vote tomorrow night and that every vote will be counted,” said Brian Fallon, Hilary For America’s national press secretary, at a media briefing this morning. “We’re happy to have it. It is exactly in keeping with our philosophy that every vote should count and that means every delegate being counted on the floor of the convention.”

At the Rhode Island delegation breakfast this morning, a volunteer from Pennsylvania was circulating among the tables collecting some of the required 600 delegate names. “It’s so that there can be a roll call vote, so people can actually say if they’re for Bernie Sanders” said Lauren Niedel, a Sanders delegate and one of the leaders of the Sanders movement in Rhode Island.

“No one would ever ask them not to,” said RI Democratic Party chair Joe McNamara. “But I think the important takeaway is the inclusion of those Democratic ideas and ideals that Sen. Sanders promoted in his campaign into the platform. We can see and hear the party uniting behind Secretary Clinton.”

John Hamilton, Sanders delegate and committee co-chair, acknowledged the direction that the floor vote seemed likely to head. “I don’t think there is going to be a second ballot. I don’t see it happening.”

Also at the breakfast, McNamara reported on their walk-through of the hall. “We checked out the Wells Fargo Center yesterday, and Rhode Island is positioned exactly where we should be, in the middle of the convention hall, slightly elevated above the rest on the floor, approximately 220 feet from the podium.”

Speaking to an RI Future reporter, McNamara praised the efforts of Aaron Regunberg in representing Rhode Island on the Rules Committee and helping to work out the Unity Commission compromise on superdelegates.

“To have a young, talented state representative like Rep. Regunberg on board gives a great deal of credibility to that,” he said. “I think everyone agrees that there has to be some adjustment in that process.”

McNamara called Regunberg “A great asset and a great role model for millennials.”

In a not-so-subtle dig at Brandon Bell’s remarks at last week’s Republican Convention, McNamara reported that “Speaker Mattielo will have a positive message tomorrow when he reports the votes, and we’re looking forward to a great convention.”

July 25, 2016July 25, 2016

DNC Sunday: Tours, protests, preparations

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With no committee sessions today, there was time to take a tour of historic Philadelphia organized for the media (called “Breakfast and B-roll”), cover a couple of the marches (March For Bernie and March for a Clean Energy Revolution, and explore the press spaces in the Pennsylvania Convention Center (where the delegates will hold caucuses in the mornings and afternoons) and the Wells Fargo Center (where the evening speaking program will happen.) Here’s some pictures from the day.

About twenty members of the media took a tour organized by Visit Philadelphia that included Independence Hall and the Libery Bell.

US Park Service tour guide Larry McClenney:"There are no words to describe the privilege of introducing visitors to our history." — US Park Service tour guide Larry McClenney:”There are no words to describe the privilege of introducing visitors to our history.”

The Rhode Island delegation (Stephen Hopkins and others) would have been at the second desk from the left in the front row.

March getting organized at Philadelphia City Hall.

Marchers carry an anti-TPP "octopus." — Marchers carry an anti-TPP “octopus.”

The Wells Fargo Arena from the press entrance at the edge of the frozen zone.

Directory of press organizations in the media tents (and this does not include the networks, which had their own tent city in a different parking lot.)

The media tents (smaller outlets, like RI Future), have space in a common filing area in the middle tent.

Inside the Wells Fargo Arena; view is from the unaffiliated press seats in section 221.

The view from the RI delegation’s seats.

The RI delegation’s seats. Across from and slightly to the left of the podium, in the second bank of seats up from the floor.

The main stage at FDR Park, where the marchers ended up, and which will host rallies and events all week.

The security fence separating FDR Park from the Wells Fargo Arena.

The Secret Service seems to have literally inspected and tagged every panel on every lamppost within and near the frozen zone.

July 24, 2016July 24, 2016

DNC will retain but reform superdelegate process

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It was, at times, a tense afternoon on the opening day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia as the party publicly questioned its superdelegate process.

Rhode Island Rep. Aaron Regunberg had the honor of introducing the first amendment to the Rules Committee meeting that would have eliminated superdelegates outright. It won 58 votes, not enough to pass but enough to keep the conversation alive.

Neither side ended up with everything they wanted, but by nightfall a compromise that seemed acceptable to the vast majority had been hammered out.

Sanders and Clinton delegates eventually agreed to create a “Unity Reform Commission” – it passed 158 to 6, with 2 abstentions. The commission is tasked with returning recommendations on reforming both the caucus and superdelegate process, specifically calling for a 2/3 reduction in the number of superdelegates. It would be a commission with teeth, charged with finding the best way to keep the elected superdelegates but explore mechanisms for keeping them from weighing in on the primary process too early.

Given lopsided vote totals earlier in the day, this marked a clear coming together of the two factions in the room. There was significant applause, cheering, and a sense in the room that progress had been made.

Regunberg was optimistic, calling it “a compromise made significantly better by the pressure exerted at the grassroots.” He admitted that the language of a “commission” could sound off putting, but he stressed that the amendment specified end products as well as process. “What we passed instructs the commission on what it will be recommending.”

There were moments of drama even before the DNC Rules Committee got fully underway this afternoon at the Democratic National Convention as more than 100 would-be spectators chanted “open the doors” in the hallway outside room 120 of the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

The space, which had room for approximately 200 delegates and about another 160 or so press and other attendees behind crowd control barriers running down the back third of the room (which were tastefully draped in black vinyl) had run out of seats, and Philadelphia police swept the space outside the room, moving reporters to the end of the hall.

After about 20 minutes, DNC staff began letting the press in by ones and twos. Some of the would-be attendees had been admitted, but there was still a line stretching back toward the front atrium of the convention center, and the folks in that line were not happy with the situation. While the Rules Committee took care of some housekeeping items — adopting the rules for the meeting, voting for the officers of the Convention (which included RI Gov. Gina Raimondo as a co-chair) — chair Barney Frank had to fight at times to be heard over the chants of “open the doors” from outside.

Once the preliminaries were out of the way, the Committee took up a series of amendments to modify the superdelegate system – which, as we’ve all become aware in this cycle, creates a class of party leaders and elected officials who are automatically delegates and who are not bound to vote for a particular candidate.

“I’m a Democrat because I believe in democracy,” said Regunberg, when he introduced the motion. “I believe in the promise of one person, one vote, that so many of our fellow Democrats have struggled and bled for. There is currently absolutely no rule keeping superdelegates in future cycles from overturning the will of the people. Creating a perception for many of our voters that the system can be rigged.”

The motion was debated for 16 minutes, and failed, 108 to 58. The good news for Regunberg’s amendment is that he had 54 delegates who signed on, enough for a “minority report” that will bring it up for discussion on the convention floor.

A second motion that would have reduced the power of superdelegates failed 107-57. A third motion to reduce the number of superdelegates failed 111-61. A fourth, which would have kept superdelegates but given them no voice in the first ballot failed 106-60 A final motion, which would have created a new class of superdelegates bound to the popular vote failed 110-60.

Crowd control, tastefully accessorize do. — Crowd control, tastefully accessorized.

As each vote was taking place, activists in the back of the room shouted encouragement – and the occasional warning like “Don’t split the party!” A succession of speakers in support of each motion implored their fellow delegates, with one noting that the American people were watching – “On TV and even out in the hall.” The numbers on each side of the issue stayed remarkably stable.

After about two hours of discussion and voting on the sequence of the amendments, the committee recessed. And it was a long recess — long enough that the DNC relented and opened the bar in the lobby for the thirsty press corps — with several of the delegates involved in the superdelegate fight seen disappearing into a smaller conference room across the hall. More than an hour later, the committee — while still in recess — asked all the Sanders delegates to huddle in another room. The buzz in the room was that there were some high-level negotiations going on, and when they returned it was with a substitute amendment.

In a genuine show of unity, no one spoke against the amendment, and the chair even dispensed with the rules to allow Clinton supporters another 8 minutes of supporting speeches. Typical was that of Newton, MA mayor Setti Warren, who said, “What we’ve done this evening will make our Party proud and our country proud.”

July 23, 2016July 24, 2016

Wikileaks dump shows DNC had concerns about RI primary

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[Edit: 5pm: This story has been updated with additional information and a statement from the Secretary of State.]

When Rhode Island Board of elections chose to open only 144 of the state’s 419 polling stations for the April 26 primary, some cried foul. The move was seen by some as an attempt to stifle voters who might turn out for Bernie Sanders instead of Hillary Clinton. (On the Republican side, a Donald Trump victory was never in question.) RI Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea, vice chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Platform Committee, was cast as a political insider working for the Clinton campaign, though all polling locations were and are determined by local municipalities and the RI Board of Elections.

With the release of a giant crop of leaked DNC emails from Wikileaks, Gorbea appears to be exonerated from the charge of electioneering. However, the emails do seem to indicate that operatives within the Democratic National Committee were interfering in the election on a national level, placing more than a thumb on the scales in Clinton’s favor, even as they attempted to manage the public’s perception of their interference. Favoring one candidate over another is a violation of DNC rules.

The Wikileak emails show that ahead of Bernie Sanders’ big win in the Rhode Island primary, highly placed operatives in the Democratic National Committee were worried about the optics of the RI Board of Election’s decision to not open more than a third of the polling places, mistakenly believing that Gorbea was the one who made the decision.

On April 25 DNC Deputy Communications Director Eric Walker wrote to his boss, Luis Miranda, “Bernie leads Hillary by 4 in the latest poll. If [Clinton] outperforms this polling, the Bernie camp will go nuts and allege misconduct. They’ll probably complain regardless, actually. We might want to get out in front of this one with an inquiry to [Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo], even though she’s one of ours.”

By “one of ours” let’s assume Walker simply meant, “a Democratic governor”.

The next day was April 26, the day of the actual primary. Having been informed by DNC Northeast Regional Political Director Erin Wilson that, “We’ve got a pretty close relationship with Nellie,” Walker suggested contacting Gorbea directly.

“Was thinking a letter so that if press asks us about it, we can show we are responsive and active,” wrote Walker, “If we’re crying foul in AZ, we might need to do the same – at least nominally – in RI so we don’t look like hypocrites.”

This prompted DNC National Political Director Raul Alvillar to write, “I am fine with that. Before we do that we should talk to [Gorbea] to get all of the details.”

Walker responded, “I would like to be on this call, but first, I don’t think we even need a statement. We just need something to cover ourselves.

“I think when we start getting inquiries, if we have a letter to the [Secretary of State] that we can point to, it will show that we are engaged and that we don’t just pipe up when it’s a Republican administration closing poll locations.

“We can make the point to reporters individually off the record that it’s not apples and oranges: Arizona more serious because the state was covered under [Voting Rights Act] and has had a history of problems – Rhode Island doesn’t have those same historical issues.”

The primary in Rhode Island was in full swing just before 1pm when Erin Wilson came back with more information. “[Pratt Wiley, DNC National Director of Voter Protection] and I were reminded that in RI, the Secretary of State doesn’t manage elections, but they’re run by the Board of Elections that are appointed by the Governor. Apparently the number of polling locations they’ve opened are consistent with the numbers opened in 2008 and 2012, and they’ve also increased the number of poll workers, ballots and booths to accommodate any unexpected surges. For example they’re telling us that they printed 300K ballots for an expected turnout of 180K. Again, these decisions are made by the Board of Elections.

“The Secretary has been traveling to polling locations all morning/afternoon and they haven’t seen any issues. Apparently the longest wait they’re seeing is 25 minutes.

“So, if we do write a letter, it would need to be to the Board of Elections. I’d be a little cautious about pulling the trigger on it too soon. Can we give some of this info on background to show we’ve made inquiries to the state if we start getting calls and then punt it back to RI?”

Eric Walker, now having been in contact with Gorbea, writes, “To be clear – no inquiries yet, but RNC will be pushing it.

“Pratt just swung by my desk – [Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea is] ready to go on record with these points defending their approach, which is good.

“I think that if DNC press office gets inquiries about hypocrisy between AZ / RI then we can direct them to RI [Secretary of State] comment, and explain on background that it’s not as dire as AZ and that RI doesn’t have the same VRA baggage.”

The final email on Wikileaks regarding the issue came from DNC National Political Director Raul Alvillar, who wrote, “Perfect. This is good.”

Of course, the entire issue of whether or not the Board of Elections declined to open more polling stations to favor Clinton in the primary went away when Sanders clobbered Clinton, taking 55 percent of the vote. This upset caught local machine Democrats completely off guard and surprised national pundits.

From reading the emails, it seems clear that Gorbea answered concerns from the DNC and coordinated a response to criticisms of the Board of Election’s decision as to the number of polls to open, but no evidence of outright collusion for the purpose of electioneering can be seen in them.

According to Nicole Lagace, Senior Advisor and Communications Director to the Secretary of State, “The DNC reached out to Secretary Gorbea on April 26 to inquire about the decreased number of polling locations in Rhode Island for the Presidential primary. We explained that we do not oversee polling locations and that was the end of that correspondence.”

[Andrew Stewart contributed to this reporting.]

July 23, 2016July 25, 2016

Waiting for DNC Rules Committee meeting

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The Democratic National Committee got underway at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia this afternoon. In one of the first — and potentially most contentious — meetings, the Rules Committee was scheduled to consider, among other items, a proposal to eliminate superdelegates.

In advance of the 1pm meeting — which staff members said was already running 45 minutes late because of a pre-briefing — there were at least 100 would-be audience lined up in the hallway of the convention center outside room 120, waiting for seats. The press was held behind a barrier at the end of the hallway, waiting

One of the folks waiting for a seat was Rhode Islander David Segal, the executive director of Demand Progress, who said he was there to support the superdelegates proposal.

“The main thing I’m here for and have been organizing around is the superdelegates issue. It wouldn’t affect who’s credentialed at this convention,” said Segal, “But going foreward, the only delegates would be pledged delegates based on the caucus and primary processes that map to popular support.”

David Segal waits outside Rules Committee meeting at DNC

Asked how important it was to have a Rhode Island delegate on the Rules Committee, Segal replied, “Very important because of who that delegate is — we have a principled organizer in Aaron Regunberg.” Regunberg’s efforts had helped to “his presence has done a lot” to facilitate support for the proposal, Segal said.

At about 1:30, members of the press were admitted, with the meeting already in progress.

July 21, 2016July 21, 2016

Regunberg leads DNC effort to end superdelegates

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RI state Representative Aaron Regunberg is going to the Democratic National Convention Rules Committee on Saturday with a mission: eliminate “superdelegates” in future elections.

“As I have spoken with fellow members of the Rules Committee about ending superdelegates,” said Regunberg, who is a DNC Rules Committee member, “I have been blown away by the passionate response. It is clear that this is an issue that committee members, delegates, and rank-and-file Democratic Party voters across the country care deeply about. I look forward to the debate beginning in earnest in Philadelphia this Saturday, and to voting on this important issue.”

According to Wikipedia, a superdelegate “is a delegate to the Democratic National Convention who is seated automatically and chooses for whom they want to vote. These Democratic Party superdelegates include distinguished party leaders, and elected officials, including all Democratic members of the House and Senate and sitting Democratic governors. Democratic superdelegates are free to support any candidate for the presidential nomination. This contrasts with convention “pledged” delegates who are selected based on the party primaries and caucuses in each U.S. state, in which voters choose among candidates for the party’s presidential nomination. Because they are free to support anyone they want, superdelegates could potentially swing the results to nominate a presidential candidate who did not receive the majority of votes during the primaries.”

The Rules Committee will meet on Saturday, July 23rd at the Philadelphia Convention Center. If the amendment secures the vote of a majority of the committee it will be sent to the full convention with a recommendation for adoption. If it secures support of just 25 percent of the committee, then a minority report in support of the measure can be offered to the full convention. The amendment already has over 25 percent of the committee signed on as cosponsors.

Fourteen national organizations are supporting the effort, including Center for Popular Democracy, Courage Campaign, Credo, Daily Kos, Demand Progress/Rootstrikers, Democracy for America, MoveOn, National Nurses United, New Democrat Network, The Other 98%, Presente, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Progressive Democrats of America, and Social Security Works.

“If we want a Democratic Party that leaves Philadelphia next week as fired up as possible,” said Regunberg, “I can think of no better move than to get rid of superdelegates and prove that we are, in fact, committed to democracy and diversity and that we value the will of the people over the interests of the well-connected few.

“These values are not reflected in our current superdelegate structure. Right now, unpledged delegates – party insiders who can vote however they please, regardless of the will of their state’s voters – have as much weight in our nominating process as the pledged delegates from the District of Columbia, 4 territories, and 24 states combined!

“That means that in future contests, they could very well overturn the most important political decision our party’s voters get to make. And even when they don’t end up tipping the balance, the mere existence of superdelegates adds to the perception among many voters that the political system is rigged. Why force any nominee to carry that albatross in the future, when the problem can be so easily resolved?”

May 19, 2016May 20, 2016

Nevada Caucus: What really happened inside

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The caucus in Nevada has been an messy affair from the beginning. Being new to the caucus process, there has been any number of irregularities and confusion, and none of this has been helped by the corporate media “dog race” coverage. Instead the media has tried in earnest to make the Bernie Sanders campaign the equivalent of Donald Trump. The coverage of the alleged violence inside of the convention is no exception. Cell phone video of the supposed chair throwing by a Sanders supporter shows that not only was there no chair ever thrown, rather fellow supporters peacefully took the the chair away and then hugged the enraged person who had lost his cool. I got it off of Twitter and anyone media outlet looking for the real story could have reported it correctly too.

RT this! NO chair throwing at #nvdemconvention – guy picks chair up, puts it down, they HUG it out. #TeamBernieNV pic.twitter.com/mBZmEeg1T5

— Jenn Dize 👩🏻‍💻Bit.ly/RickSnyderFlint (@JennElizabethJ) May 17, 2016

Here former Ohio Senator Nina Turner is interviewed by Ed Shultz https://youtu.be/OYaR4X2KDmk who was there and has said repeatedly that there was no violence on the part of the Sanders supporters. They go into the spin the media and the Clinton surrogates in California are trying to distort the record. It is definitely worth watching.

Instead the corporate media blew this out of proportion and tied this incident into reports of death threats to the chair and vandalism at the party HQ. None of this was instigated or sanctioned by the Sanders campus, and Bernie himself this issue the statement on this.

However, in keeping with their drumbeat of the inevitable coronation of Clinton, this served the media narrative as a useful distraction from the fact that Sanders won his first closed primary in Oregon and Hillary squeaked by at the last minute in Kentucky state that she had one by a wide margin against Obama.

Democracy Now reported it this way.

“Bernie Sanders’ victory in Oregon comes amid tensions with the Democratic Party after Sanders supporters erupted into protest Saturday at the Nevada convention. They say rules were abruptly changed and 64 Sanders supporters were wrongly denied delegate status. Clinton ultimately won 20 pledged delegates to Sanders’ 15. The state party chair, Roberta Lange, said she received death threats, while state party headquarters were vandalized. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid urged Sanders to condemn the behavior of some of his supporters, saying he faced a “test of leadership.” In a statement, Sanders rejected violence, and noted that during the Nevada campaign, shots were fired into his campaign office in the state, and his staff’s housing complex was broken into and ransacked. He also accused Nevada Democratic leadership of “[using] its power to prevent a fair and transparent process” at the conventions on Saturday.”

It is worth noting that inside the caucus they had a policeline guarding the stage which gave the appearance that it was not a transparent process and was intimidating. The tone of favoritism toward Clinton has been set by by the DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She has always been close to Hillary Clinton and has tried to limited debates as well as a number of other things to give Hillary the full advantage. Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver has complained vociferously about this.

There is a lesson to be learned here. When you are inside any party convention, everything you do will be held as an example of the campaign and it will be used by the media to tell the story that they want to tell. It is a good lesson for the the State Convention in RI convention which is coming up in June.

Also, for any delegates going to the Democratic National which will be contested as the neither candidate will have the number of pledge delegates needed so it will be up to the superdelegates to tip the scale’s. Not everyone inside of the Democratic Party has been pleased about the way Debbie Wasserman Schultz has manipulated the election and many of them made it clear that they didn’t want to be the one deciding the election.

Footnote: For anyone interested in the wonky details of what went on in Nevada here is a good explanation,

https://johnlaurits.com/2016/05/15/what-happened-at-the-nevada-democratic-state-convention/

April 26, 2016

Bernie Sanders In RI – video of the his speech

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Bernie Sanders visit to Rhode Island was the largest political primary rally in RI, over 7000 people, since JFK. It is worth watching to see what all the excitement was about.

If you have a liberal cause you believe in it is in there, but the difference is that it is not a campaign stunt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qQf_bvfR6Y&feature=youtu.be
Look how Bernie was so moved by Flint and #BackLivesMatter that he is still talking about it, while Hillary just plays them as part of the campaign and is on to the next wedge issue to play the people.

Nothing is more emblematic in the difference between the challenge to the status quo than a comparison with Hillary’s visit in Central Falls where, with a full delegation of Senators, Congressmen, the Governor etc., they could barely draw 1200 people. Most telling is that they were all there as Clinton claimed “she has been standing with Latino Families in Rhode Island and across the country for her entire career.”

PolitiFact said:

Sanders has a strong record on immigration issues, Warren Gunnels, his senior policy adviser, replied. Sanders supports “comprehensive immigration reform and a path towards citizenship for 11 million people today who are living in the shadows,” the senator said in a MSNBC Democratic primary debate in New Hampshire in February.

He voted for the Dream Act in 2010, which would have legalized immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children. He also supported the so-called “Gang of Eight” bill in 2013. This bipartisan legislation created a path for people already in the United States, focused on reducing visa backlogs, and improved work-visa options for low-skilled workers.

Why aren’t the political class being held accountable? The political establishment stood with Clinton giving credence to Clinton’s mischaracterization.

Contrast this with Bernie’s rally at Roger Williams Park on Sunday where actress Shailene Woodley, a guest of Students for Bernie, praised Bernie as a political movement builder in the mold of Martin Luther King and said that she has been making phone calls for Bernie herself.

Here is your choice- back the establishment who will use their office to to help politicians play political tricks, on Latino’s in this case, to get their vote or join the political revolution and help build the better world we know is possible.

September 10, 2012September 14, 2012

Convention Reflection: A Rant About Democrats

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Get ready for a rant. I managed to engage in far less blogging than I’d hoped to over the course of my four days in Charlotte. Here’s what I was left with:

The convention had its moments, for sure: What I heard of Elizabeth Warren was very good, certainly by the standards of what you can get away with on national TV. Her losing to Scott Brown would be a blow as big as Russ Feingold’s loss last cycle. If genuine, incorruptible, economic populists can’t win in moderate and left-leaning districts then my continued hope for the future of our country seems particularly naive. Feingold lost to one of the very worst hacks the Tea Party put up last cycle — one who incessantly and successfully framed Feingold as a lock-step party shill, even though he had voted against financial reform from the left (because it didn’t address too-big-to-fail), was the only vote against the Patriot Act, and even cast the sole Democratic vote to try Bill Clinton during the impeachment process in 2000. (Though voted not to convict him.)

Scott Brown’s only legislative achievement is to have gotten a bill through the Massachusetts General Court outlawing public funding of sex-change operations for prisoners. FOR REAL. We shouldn’t be losing to these jokers.

Anyway, Warren is great. But it was tragic that somebody so knowledgeable about, and dedicated to the cause of, banking reform had to bite her lip and introduce Bill Clinton, whose administration was responsible for much of the deregulation of Wall Street which precipitated the Crash and whose cast of economic “experts” spent eight years twirling though the revolving doors of Manhattan’s tallest towers only to be dredged up by Obama — helping compel him to hedge, again and again, on behalf of high finance.

Clinton’s speech was, of course, gripping and brilliant, but hinged on one’s willingness to suspend disbelief and forgive the corporate shill who brought us financial deregulation, NAFTA, and all that. (At least he had the sense to veto the Joe Biden-backed bankruptcy reform bill in 2000. Bush later signed it.)

As mediocre as he’s been, Obama is right to claim superiority to Mitt Romney when it comes to domestic economic policy. Even if he’s made no move to break up the banks or hold Wall Street accountable for its crimes, Romney would manage to be even worse in these regards. Obamacare will probably be better than the status quo, even if he could’ve fought harder for a public option. There’s a real risk that Obama will implement regressive reform of Medicare or Social Security — but Romney would (try to) obliterate them. It’s good to see Obama take a more aggressive tack against Citizens United (now that he’s realized that he’s going to lose the mad dash for dollars that it’s precipitated).

In the civil liberties realm in which I now work, it’s actually difficult to imagine that Romney could be far worse than Obama: This brilliant video by Gawker was recently circulated — it has the videographer asking prominent Dems if they think that Romney’s ready to be put in charge the kill list Obama instituted. He supports the Patriot Act. He supports warrantless wiretapping. And I’m flabbergasted by his crack-down on medical marijuana — that cause is just so popular with Americans that I can’t even conceive of a cynical political calculus that could’ve driven him to take such a heavy-handed stand against it.

He’s kept us in Afghanistan, took us to war in Libya without approval from Congress, and as the Onion headline asked, could the use of flying death robots be hurting America’s reputation worldwide?

Obama’s made two recent attempts to jazz up the progressive base he once called his own: announcing his support for gay marriage and pushing through a modified version of the Dream Act. Both are genuinely wonderful developments, but we should note that neither runs contrary to the interests of finance: The Chamber of Commerce has consistently supported immigration reform — and fewer people will be helped by the Dream Act than have already been deported by Obama — who has deported immigrants at a rate about 50% faster than George W Bush.

But the most defensible reason to support Obama (at least in the swing states) is the chance that he’ll get to appoint another Sotomayor (and not a Kagan) to the Court during his continued tenure in office. Those appointees who’ve made it past an intransigent Republican Senate caucus have actually been pretty good — some of his appointees have even been willing to buck the administration when it’s the right thing to do: Katherine Forrest, whom Obama appointed just last year, has so far defied his DOJ’s attempts to defend the indefinite detention law that he signed this past New Year’s. (Demand Progress, the org I run, is helping fund the lawsuit against indefinite detention.)

This is all to say that while there are reasons to support Obama and hope that he beats Romney, it’s also imperative to remember that the national Democratic establishment leaves much to be desired. Activists must remain in constant vigilance, and push back hard against party insiders who, in large part, came to power because of their allegiance to moneyed interests. And the lack of such a nuanced understanding of the attributes and failings of our party was stark in Charlotte. I participated in a wonderful event put on by Progressive Democrats of America, which attracted several hundred attendees over the course of the first day of the convention, but that was just about it.

Absent was any broader sense of the need to — let alone a strategy by which to — push back against a Democratic establishment whose inertia has it shifting ever-further to the right (with rare exceptions like gay marriage) — a phenomenon which serves neither the interests of the party nor those of our country. (And just makes me so darned sad.)

September 7, 2012July 15, 2014

Obama Delivers Compelling Case for Re-Election

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President Obama makes his case for re-election at DNC

CHARLOTTE, NC –– President Barack Obama, in a crisp, straight-forward speech at the Democratic National Convention last night, laid out the central choice embodied in his re-election campaign.

“Over the next few years,” said the president, “big decisions will be made in Washington, on jobs and the economy; taxes and deficits; energy and education; war and peace – decisions that will have a huge impact on our lives and our children’s lives for decades to come. On every issue, the choice you face won’t be just between two candidates or two parties. It will be a choice between two different paths for America. A choice between two fundamentally different visions for the future.”

Obama’s speech did not have the rhetorical flash of former President Bill Clinton, or the moving narrative of First Lady Michelle Obama, or the fire-in-the-belly grit of Vice President Joe Biden. But it did something else, something quite substantial, in knitting together all the themes we had heard — and for those in the hall, that was something like 15 hours of speeches across three days — crystallizing the complex and ramified into the simple logic of decision-making.

In a word, the speech was presidential. Because while we do expect our presidents to have rhetorical flash (“Yes our road is longer – but we travel it together. We don’t turn back. We leave no one behind.”) and self-revelatory (“I began my career helping people in the shadow of a shuttered steel mill, at a time when too many good jobs were starting to move overseas.”) and even with a bit of grit (“”Feel a cold coming on? Take two tax cuts, roll back some regulations, and call us in the morning!”), at the end of the day, we know that the person in the Oval Office needs to have, in addition to those necessary-but-not-sufficient skills, a powerful ability to synthesize.

We need a president who can look out across the pressing challenges, the spectrum of issues, the diversity of voices — and anyone who attended to the full content of previous 15 hours could not miss their range and import — and, guided by their values, develop a vision and manage a path forward. It is an act of synthesis, not brute-force reduction to binary choices so painfully on display in Tampa.

In an election, this is of necessity reduced to a single decision point, a “go-no-go” decision (like the one pointedly evoked multiple times during the convention. You know the one I mean.)

And in perhaps the boldest rhetorical move, Obama turned this entire process inside out to show us how implicated we, the voters are: “So you see, the election four years ago wasn’t about me. It was about you. My fellow citizens – you were the change.”

It was a brilliant way to make his case. “As I stand here tonight,” Obama said, “I have never been more hopeful about America. Not because I think I have all the answers. Not because I’m naïve about the magnitude of our challenges. I’m hopeful because of you.”

Because if you had listened, really listened to what speaker after speaker testified to in Charlotte, and you had followed the logic of Obama’s framing (Sandra Fluke said it best: “Six months from now, you’re going to be living in one of these futures.”), and if you were the kind of person that the President thought you were — the kind of person you hope, in your best moments, to be — then you had to rise above the cynicism or “other voices will fill the void.”

Brilliant.

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