Bernie Sanders prepared to fight at Democratic National Convention
WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders told USA TODAY on Tuesday he is prepared for a floor fight at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia if the party doesn’t take more progressive stances on trade, the minimum wage, climate change and other issues in its platform.
The Vermont senator said there are “a lot of very good and progressive” provisions in the document approved Saturday in St. Louis by the 15-member Platform Drafting Committee, which includes supporters of Sanders and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
But Sanders and his supporters will be working with labor, environmental and human rights groups to call for amendments when the draft goes to the full 187-member Platform Committee for final approval in Orlando July 8 and 9. If he doesn’t succeed there, Sanders said he will have the votes to bring amendments to the convention floor in Philadelphia and “we are certainly intending to do that.”
Sanders acknowledged it would be easier if his changes were adopted in Orlando. A floor fight at the convention could prolong it by requiring debates and votes. Asked whether that bothered him, Sanders didn’t seem to mind.
“The middle class of this country has been in decline for 40 years and we need to make it clear that we stand with working families in this country and we are prepared to take on powerful special interests,” he said. “That is what the Democratic Party has got to stand for.”
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Sanders has said he will vote for Clinton, but he hasn’t endorsed her or conceded his bid for the Democratic nomination. He won about 45% of the pledged delegates awarded in state primaries and caucuses, which gives him enough representation on the party platform committee and others to file “minority reports,” or dissents from positions held by the majority of delegates at the convention.
Democratic Party rules allow for minority reports at the request of members representing 25% of total votes on the convention’s platform, credentials and rules committees.
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Most important to Sanders, he said, is that the platform opposes a vote in Congress on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed 12-nation trade pact he says would have “disastrous” consequences for U.S. workers and the environment. Clinton’s supporters on the drafting committee rejected such an amendment by one of Sanders supporters last weekend.
Both Clinton and Sanders opposed the TPP during the primary campaign, and a Clinton campaign official said her opposition hasn’t changed. Sanders said “we want to see the TPP killed” and the amendment should have won overwhelmingly, but he said Clinton’s representatives worried they would “embarrass” President Obama, who has pushed for the TPP.
“Well, I don’t want to embarrass the president either. He’s a friend,” Sanders said. “But in a Democratic society, people can have disagreements.”
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Sanders said the platform also needs “clear language” on raising the minimum wage to $15-an-hour. The committee passed a provision saying Americans should earn at least $15, but Sanders called that language “vague.”
Thirdly, he said the drafting committee “did not do a good job” on addressing climate change in the platform. He plans for his supporters to revive amendments in Orlando that call for an end to fracking and for a tax on carbon, “which I think is essential if we’re going to transform our energy system.”
Sanders has noted that massive resentment toward an economy that works for the rich and not the middle class fueled “Brexit,” the United Kingdom’s vote last week to leave the European Union. Sanders was asked Tuesday what he believes will happen in this country if the Democratic Party doesn’t adopt a progressive platform.
“What the Democratic Party will see if it is not prepared to stand up and fight for the middle class is that their support will dissipate, no question about it, among working people,” he said. “And we have got to not allow that to happen.”
Sanders highlighted some “very real accomplishments” by the platform drafting committee, including a call for an “historic” expansion of Social Security, investments in infrastructure, abolishing the death penalty, doing away with corporate tax loopholes, a breakup of large financial institutions and a modern-day “Glass-Steagall” law, which separated commercial and investment banking activities before it was mostly repealed in 1999.
“I think we will succeed in having the most progressive Democratic platform in history, but what is more important is making sure that platform becomes implemented,” he said.
