DNC Platform Developers Overriding Stands Taken by Both Candidates

[senz]

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders said on Friday that he was “disappointed and dismayed” that allies of Hillary Clinton beat back Democratic Party platform proposals on trade.

On the other hand, Sanders said he was pleased that the platform drafters adopted language calling for breaking up too-big-to-fail banks and enacting a modern-day Glass-Steagall Act. Sanders also said he appreciated a unanimous vote for a proposal to abolish the death penalty.

Sanders said it was “inexplicable” why Clinton allies on the panel at a meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, voted down proposals on trade that both Sanders and Clinton embraced as candidates. “It is hard for me to understand why Secretary Clinton’s delegates won’t stand behind Secretary Clinton’s positions in the party’s platform,” Sanders said.

The drafting committee rebuffed a proposal by Sanders allies to put the party on record saying Congress this year should not take up a trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Both Clinton and Sanders oppose bringing the measure before Congress this year for an up-or-down vote. Clinton allies nevertheless thwarted the platform proposal.

More at the link --

https://berniesanders.com/press-release/clinton-delegates-vote-clinton-stands-trade/

I hope Sec. Clinton can persuade them not to do this.

[TDale313]

1. Yeah, humm... Why would they do that?

Since she was obviously so opposed to the TPP...

[senz]

2. I don't know if this is "how it's done" or if they are being defiant

but it's surprising that they would openly defy the presumed front runner, particularly since the ones who did it are her delegates.

Dunno.

[TDale313]

3. They're putting in the platform

Exactly what Hillary's position was for a long time- which was stay neutral on the TPP. Pressure from the left forced her to take a stand, but this never seemed like a fight she wanted to have. I wish it were otherwise.

(This may well get hidden, but it is intended as constructive criticism. Trump will be running on economic populism. She should not let him run to her left on trade.)

[Paka]

4. Exactly.

[condoleeza]

7. Yes, exactly...

[Plucketeer]

15. Yes!

SO obvious. It's called a facade.

[JudyM]

5. They were specifically chosen. It's not imaginable to me that the points she wanted in the platform

we're not gone over in some detail, i.e., what she was willing to give ground on and the extent of that ground giving that would be acceptable. They are negotiating for her... So to me it seems that Bernie reacting as he did is politely facetious.

[senz]

9. Must be something one learns from 25+ years in the legislative branch

-- a kind of finesse born of experience.

So glad he can do this for all of us. So glad this man exists.

[JudyM]

11. Yes, it was as if there was a vacuum we were struggling with before he took the reins.

Don't you wonder why it took so long for someone to show up? Now that we see the power in numbers that we have, it's stunning that all of us were just settling. In a way I think it took "these circumstances" (which must remain unnamed) for the movement to coalesce. People didn't have the same impulse to rise up when it was Gore or Kerry running, or certainly Obama, who seemed to reflect the populism.

[senz]

12. Yes! It's true. There was OWS

but that was sort of a blip on the screen, not a powerful, sustained movement like what we've seen this past year and hopefully will continue to see going forward. Bernie had spoken about a possible presidential run on the TH show as a way of elevating the important issues and pushing Hillary to the left (which always sounded ridiculous to me). Running for president immediately elevates a person's profile, and Bernie used that elevation brilliantly by holding big, stadium style rallies -- which the MSM tried to ignore, but the internet and social media took notice and it spread like wildfire. He did all his homework in developing a coherent set of issues, proposals, and payment methodologies and then ran himself ragged taking his message all over the country. So he did his part quite well.

But you're right, this probably wouldn't have happened if not for a certain person. Suppose it had been just Bernie vs. O'Malley -- there's a significant difference, but it's not a huge polarizing difference.

It needed a catalyst.

You know, Judy, this is the best, most positive thing I've heard about the, um, situation.

[JudyM]

14. Yes. It was the perfect storm for Bernie, like a classic literary foil. There were so many of us

who got it, and all the others who either didn't appreciate the urgency of the timing or just aren't tuned in on that level... for whatever reason. And he took it farther than he thought it would go, which is the other positive here.... he came out ahead of where he thought he would be, and in so doing, both showed how deep our blood runs (even to him) and also advanced the issues much farther, even awakening awareness in our youngest adult generation.

The emotional wake that we're slogging through is "only" that there were problems that, without which, he'd have actually (likely) taken the whole thing... the external issues we've all lasered in on these past months together which now remain simply a shared understanding, dealing with injustices external to his campaign.... but also, to a lesser extent, his campaign/staff logistics also undercut his potential votes, at least that's what I observed as a volunteer in quite a few states. Like a young company that suddenly takes off, the infrastructure didn't get a chance to get built as well as it could have. I admire Jeff for what he did, but they had a lot of very young people in management positions who had zero management/project management experience and this hurt both planning and execution significantly; Clinton had an enormous advantage in the existing dem structure alone. But back to the positive about this: everything came together to make the movement bigger than it otherwise would have been, and we can trust that Bernie is planning his moves to capitalize on this to the maximum extent.

[merrily]

6. Delegates, rejecting their candidate's position!

[senz]

8. Yes, something doesn't quite add up.

Wish I could figure out what it was ...

[merrily]

10. It's a real head scratcher. We'll probably never figure it out.

[Hiraeth]

13. *scratches head*

Yeah. I just can't figure it out.