Bernie's Agenda to Transform the Democratic Party

By Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News

15 June 16

n Tuesday, as voters cast their ballots in Washington DC, Bernie Sanders held a press conference in which he laid out a framework for what he wants to accomplish at the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia in July.

At the top of the agenda was a change in the leadership of the Democratic National Committee. He stopped short of calling for Debbie Wasserman Schultz to be replaced, but that was clearly what he meant. He called for the party leadership to focus on growing the party membership, not the organization’s bank account.

In an interview on Tuesday afternoon with NBC’s Chuck Todd, Wasserman Schultz said she was planning to finish her term – but the question remains, will the choice be hers? “I am planning on continuing to focus all the way through the election to the end of my term on making sure that we can elect Democrats up and down the ballot, especially including the president of the United States,” she said.

Bernie Sanders called for the most progressive platform in the history of the party. He wants that platform to show that “the party is on the side of working people, is on the side of low income people, is on the side of people who have no health insurance, and is prepared to stand up to the powerful corporate interests whose greed is doing so much harm to our country.”

Sanders also called for real electoral reform within the Democratic Party. He wants open primaries, arguing that preventing millions of people from participating the nominating process because they are registered as independent is incomprehensible. He also called for same-day voter registration. Sanders said the party needs to put resources into better training and more poll workers to prevent the long lines that hampered the ability to vote in places like Arizona and Puerto Rico. He said the way elections are run needs to be reformed so that the system is worthy of the Democratic Party.

Sanders also called for the elimination of superdelegates, calling the current system in which superdelegates pledge their support before the campaign even starts absurd. He said he didn’t want “super delegates to live in a world of their own but instead reflect the views of the people in their own state.”

Bernie said that those were just a few of the changes that have to take place and vowed to fight for them in the weeks and months to come.

Later in the day, Sanders met with Hillary Clinton and released the following statement:

“Senator Sanders and Secretary Clinton met in Washington on Tuesday evening and had a positive discussion about how best to bring more people into the political process and about the dangerous threat that Donald Trump poses to our nation.

“Sanders congratulated Secretary Clinton on the campaign she has run and said he appreciated her strong commitment to stopping Trump in the general election.

“The two discussed a variety of issues where they are seeking common ground: substantially raising the minimum wage; real campaign finance reform; making health care universal and accessible; making college affordable and reducing student debt.

“Sanders and Clinton agreed to continue working to develop a progressive agenda that addresses the needs of working families and the middle class and adopting a progressive platform for the Democratic National Convention.”

There was some speculation that Sanders would suspend his campaign after the meeting, but spokesman Michael Briggs said earlier Tuesday that Sanders will not drop out “today, or tomorrow, or the next day. He has said that he plans to stay in this through the Democratic convention.”

While the meeting with Clinton was taking place, campaign surrogates Nina Turner and Larry Cohen, who were at Sunday’s meeting of the candidate’s inner circle, went into more detail on what the senator plans to focus on now. They were guests on ‘News with Ed,’ Ed Shultz’s new show on RT.

Cohen, the former head of the Communication Workers of America, said everyone at that meeting pledged to stick with the movement beyond the convention and the election. Cohen called the meeting with Clinton “an attempt to figure out how much common ground is there and how do we get more common ground.”

Nina Turner said, “This is about show, not tell. Sanders supporters don’t want to hear the pretty talk, they want to make sure this platform that will be discussed and debated in Philadelphia is one that will actually be realized when all is said is done.”

After the meeting, Sanders flew back to Vermont, where he will hold an online event on Thursday to discuss his future plans with supporters. Many of his surrogates and delegates will be meeting in Chicago this weekend in what is being billed as The People’s Summit. Sanders himself has been invited to speak, but is not a confirmed speaker. Many of his closest advisors will be participating, including Nina Turner, Rep. Raul Grijalva. and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.

So it looks like I was wrong when I said Bernie will probably endorse Hillary before the convention. I was not wrong about what Bernie would continue to fight for. I’m not claiming he reads my articles, but there has never been a candidate for president closer to me politically. I’m not surprised we have the same demands going into Philadelphia. I can’t ask for more from Bernie than he is demanding and that I have already asked for.