[B]ernie Sanders may have endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, but some of his followers refuse to back her. They say they will march in Philadelphia during the Democratic National Convention to promote his progressive platform and protest the party’s superdelegate system.
City officials estimate the four-day convention, which starts Monday, will attract 35,000 to 50,000 demonstrators a day. In Facebook groups such as “Occupy DNC Convention July 2016,” “Rage Against the DNC” and “Bernicrats,” Sanders supporters from across the country say they will rally in Philadelphia.
And hundreds of these demonstrators will be from Vermont, said James Haslam, executive director of the advocacy group Rights and Democracy.
“I know there’s a tremendous amount of interest,” he said last week. So far at least 50 members had expressed interest in going to Philadelphia and requested help in planning their trip, he added.
Haslam said Rights and Democracy would coordinate carpools and, depending on member demand, may organize bus rides to Philadelphia. Late last week he said the trip was still in the planning phase.
Richmond resident Erin Stillson-Wolf, a spokeswoman for Rights and Democracy, plans to march in Philadelphia with her husband and two children, ages 3 and 10.
Stillson-Wolf said she’s going to Philadelphia to protest the Democratic Party’s superdelegate system, which lets a certain number of party insiders vote however they want as delegates, not subject to the outcome of their state’s primary or caucus. “What the superdelegate system is telling us is that yes, we have a voice, but (the superdelegate’s) actually matters and yours don’t,” she said.
She also wants to promote a progressive agenda with or without Sanders, who endorsed Hillary Clinton last week at a rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
“We want to show that we are not blindly following Bernie,” Stillson-Wolf said. “We are not going to fall in line. We are not going to quiet our voices to make it easier for the Democratic Party.”
Stillson-Wolf and her family will stay with friends who live outside Philadelphia. She wants her children to march with her, but she has made a contingency plan in case protests become violent.
“If things are not going to be as peaceful as we hoped, my husband and his friend are going to be outside of the city with the kids, and if things look peaceful and (it looks) like it’s going to stay that way, they’re going to be a part of it,” she said.
Other Vermonters may go to Philadelphia on their own. Tom Joslin, of Jericho, said he has been active in the Sanders campaign from the start. He is a member of several pro-Sanders Facebook groups and is thinking of making the trip to protest the lack of economic opportunities for young people.
“Young people, I think, are having a much harder time getting started in their careers than (back) in my day,” he said. And he saw the economic hardships facing young people firsthand with his son, who he said struggled to find a job after graduating from college.
Joslin said last week that he had not made travel plans yet but was thinking of taking the train. He decided to stay at the Jersey shore, about an hour’s drive from Philadelphia, both so he can enjoy the shore while visiting and in case protests get violent.
“If (the police) start beating up heads or something, I’m going to leave early,” he said.
To date, the city of Philadelphia has approved 17 applications for protests, vigils and similar events. Three have been denied, and 12 are pending. Of the approved applications, eight make some reference to Sanders.
Demonstrators will march in South Philadelphia and Center City, with the biggest protests occurring in FDR Park near the stadium where parts of the convention will take place.
One challenge facing demonstrators may be finding a place to stay. Hotels in Center City and the suburbs are filling quickly. Ed Grose, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association, said he expects Philadelphia’s hotels to be booked to capacity at the convention.
“There’s still rooms available outside the city,” he said late last week. “We have the Valley Forge area, the airport area, as well as hotels over in South Jersey.”
Haslam, from Rights and Democracy, said he would use his network of friends, family and activists who live in the Philadelphia area to offer protesters who don’t have other accommodations a place to stay.
