Sanders Supporters Are Holding 'People's Convention' In Philly To Plan Next Steps

By aaroncynic in News on Jul 22, 2016 8:33PM

While political firebrand and populist candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination Bernie Sanders may have said he's #withher as Democrats ready themselves to nominate Hillary Clinton, many of his supporters will gather ahead of the convention to attempt to direct the momentum of their progressive agenda.

Dubbed the “People's Convention,” the event will take place Saturday July 23 in Philadelphia and feature Green Party Presidential candidate Jill Stein and former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner as keynote speakers.

“As a growing movement, there will be space for grassroots organizers and organizations to network and strengthen relationships for future partnerships and expansion,” said organizers in a press release. “This powerful collaboration will establish the foundation for a growing movement seeking to transform American politics by reigniting the power of the people.”

Die-hard Sanders supporters have been struggling for a unified plan to move forward after the Vermont Senator said he would support Clinton for the nomination. For many, Clinton's Wall Street-heavy donor base and foreign policy record as Secretary of State is a major source of contention. Many will likely swallow a bitter pill and cast a ballot for the former First Lady anyway, while others may go to Jill Stein or focus their efforts in other areas. Few have expressed support for Republican Presidential nominee and carnival barker Donald Trump, who attempted to woo Sanders supporters the last night of the Republican National Convention.
“I have seen firsthand how the system is rigged against our citizens, just like it was rigged against Bernie Sanders. He never had a chance,” said the neo-Mussolini during his coronation on Thursday. In response, Sanders asked Twitter if Trump was “running for President or dictator,” and then tweeted out a long list of big differences between the two men.

The groundswell of support around the Sanders campaign had much to do with his platform. The DNC and Clinton were slow to adopt ideas like a $15 an hour minimum wage and free, though not universal, college tuition to their platform, and she has directly benefited from Wall Street and industries like the prison industrial complex. But the Sanders campaign brought many disillusioned and political newbies into the fold who now need a place to put their efforts. Organizers of the People's Convention hope to seize on that.

“The People’s Convention is an opportunity to define what happens next,” Anoa Changa, a woman who has volunteered for several efforts to support Sanders, told Rachael Perrotta, a Chicago-based supporter of the People's Platform who is volunteering to help promote the convention. In a post published to Medium, Changa asked Perotta, “How do we engage and hold people accountable? People feel emboldened through this process and empowered to take charge of the process themselves.”

The group will ratify a “people's platform, a list of issues crowdsourced from more than 800 people who then voted on which were most important in an online poll. The platform includes racial, climate and economic justice as well as healthcare as a human right and pulling money out of politics.

“The grassroots army that pushed Bernie to the top of the polls isn’t stopping now,” said Sharon Sanders, a Bernie delegate that said she will try to bring the platform to the DNC. “We’re building on Bernie’s vision to send a strong message to politicians of both parties: you are accountable to the people.”