[P]HILADELPHIA — Most of the people waving signs and shouting slogans the first night of the Democratic National Convention celebrated the party, its principles and Hillary Clinton’s candidacy for the White House.
But there were also signs of frustration and distrust on Monday, mainly from diehard supporters of Bernie Sanders, who recently conceded the race to Clinton. Sanderistas booed candidates, including stalwart progressives like U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Al Franken and Jeff Merkley.
At a closed-door delegate event Monday morning, a crew of “Bernie or Bust” delegates even booed Sanders when he urged them to support Clinton. For more than 30 seconds, supporters screamed, yelled and chanted, denigrating Clinton’s candidacy and demanding that Sanders continue running.
A few people chanted “Kill Hill” or “We Want Bernie” while others looked crestfallen, and had tears in their eyes. Someone in the room banged on a loud drum.
“Brothers and sisters,” Sanders responded, looking for calm. “This is the real world that we live in.”
While polls show that many former Sanders supporters are coalescing around Clinton’s candidacy, the 1,846 pledged delegates for Sanders at the convention represent some of the most loyal Sanderistas in the country.
Sanders’ convention speech — delivered Monday in prime time — was designed to address the distrust many Sanders supporters have of Clinton. His remarks — which differed little from those given earlier this month when he endorsed the former secretary of state — often asserted that “Hillary Clinton understands.”
While he was booed for similar remarks earlier in the day, Sanders walked onstage to acclaim. Delegates gave him a three-minute standing ovation, and many shouted “Thank you, Bernie!”
Once he began talking, Sanders reminded his delegates and former supporters that Clinton would appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn the Citizens United campaign finance decision. Clinton also made progressive changes to her college affordability plan. In describing the months since the end of primary season, Sanders talked about a “significant coming together between the two campaigns.”
“If you don’t believe this election is important, if you think you can sit it out, take a moment to think about the Supreme Court justices that Donald Trump would nominate and what that would mean to civil liberties, equal rights and the future of our country,” he said.
In addition to public praise of his former rival, Sanders and his team also looked to mitigate potential embarrassing media moments for the Clinton campaign on Monday.
In an email ahead of the official convention kickoff, Sanders asked supporters to remain civil during the festivities.
“Our credibility as a movement will be damaged by booing, turning backs, walking out or other similar displays,” Sanders wrote. “That’s what the corporate media wants.”
In the email, Sanders acknowledged fresh frustrations about a DNC email leak that showed favoritism from party Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and others, toward Clinton throughout the primary season. (Schultz resigned Sunday, and the party formally apologized to Sanders Monday afternoon.)
Sanders told his supporters that the swift dismissal of Schultz was a “positive sign.”
Yet despite Sanders’ request that Sanderistas refrain from protest during the convention event, boos frequently echoed through the Wells Fargo Arena when Clinton’s name was uttered, and dozens of Sanders delegates held up signs decrying the Trans-Pacific Partnership. During Monday afternoon remarks by Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, that touched on race, delegates interrupted him, chanting “No TPP!”
While Sanders mostly avoided confrontational rhetoric, he reiterated: “It’s no secret that Hillary Clinton and I disagree on a number of issues.” He promised to fight to keep the TPP off the Senate floor.
A number of Monday’s speakers were some of Sanders’ earliest sympathizers, including Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., and former NAACP president Ben Jealous.
First Lady Michelle Obama gave the most warmly received speech of the night, though her remarks focused not on party unity, but on the Republican nominee, Donald Trump.
Sen. Jeff Merkley, Sanders’ lone endorsement in the Senate, also did his best to heal wounds and foster unity in his speech Monday night.
“We must be united in this battle,” he said, to a mixture of boos and claps. “Whether you spent this year ‘Feeling the Bern’ or you spent this year ‘Ready for Hillary,’ all of you are ready for an America that rejects discrimination and embraces diversity.”
Those who are not “Ready for Hillary” include some of Sanders’ most loyal activists and surrogates, many of whom are taking a more adversarial approach to Clinton’s candidacy. While they acknowledge the 2015 Democratic platform is progressive, not all of them believe that Clinton will push the Sanders agenda in the White House.
“It’s about making sure that this is a platform that goes into November, and beyond,”actress Rosario Dawson told Sanders supporters at Monday’s delegate meeting. “And if it doesn’t, and the promises of 100 days aren’t there, then civil disobedience will follow. We are serious about these issues.”
Larry Cohen, the head of the Communications Workers of America, added that “it’s about how politicians walk, not just how they talk.”
Rapper Killer Mike told the crowd that “‘Good enough’ is no longer good enough,” adding that Sanderistas should become involved in Sanders’ new political action committee, Our Revolution, which aims to elect at least 100 progressive candidates this election on all levels of government.
“Real politics is not necessarily sexy,” Sanders said in the meeting, looking to recruit potential politicians. “Knocking on doors, talking to people, handing out leaflets, handing out emails. But that is what we need to do.”
While some of Sanders surrogates have not endorsed Clinton, one of Sanders’ earliest celebrity supporters, comedian Sarah Silverman, told convention-goers that she was confident Clinton would push the Sanders agenda if elected. In between a few political jokes, as Sanders supporters booed her shifting allegiance, Silverman went off script to scold the supporters.
“To the ‘Bernie or Bust’ people, you are being ridiculous,” Silverman said, to more loud noise from both the Sanders and Clinton camps.
Following the public tussle, Paul Simon came out on the convention stage in hopes of fostering unity through song. His selection? “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”
