DNC Day One: Party Establishment Battles Angry Sanders Supporters & Bashes Donald Trump

By aaroncynic in News on Jul 26, 2016 1:35PM

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Aaron Cynic / Chicagoist

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Aaron Cynic / Chicagoist

Aaron Cynic / Chicagoist

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The first night of the Democratic National Convention revolved, for the most part, around two people: Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.

Tensions were high for much of the night and a full gamut of emotions coursed through the floor—from jubilation, to fear, to anger and despondency—as a long lineup of speakers took the podium at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia in an attempt to unite the party around presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton. But no matter how high profile the speaker, including Bernie Sanders himself, or how many pro-Clinton signs volunteers could hand out, it was clear throughout the convention floor that voting Hillary will be a bitter pill that many devout Sanders fans will struggle to swallow.

"Any objective observer will conclude that—based on her ideas and her leadership—Hillary Clinton must become the next president of the United States,” said Sanders in his speech, while some on the packed floor shed tears. Prior to his speech, nearly every mention of Clinton's name came with audible boos from somewhere in the stadium, many times being shouted down by thunderous chants of “Hillary.”

The feeling of betrayal runs deep among the Vermont Senator's supporters, and fresh wounds continue to bleed, thanks to a trove of DNC emails published by Wikileaks, which showed bias against Sanders and calculated tactics to undermine his campaign. Shortly after the leak became public, Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned from her post as DNC chairperson. Schultz, who might be the second least-liked person at the convention Monday other than Donald Trump, relinquished her opportunity to gavel open the convention, and was booed at a delegate breakfast Monday morning.

Some chose to show off their unhappiness visually, with many holding signs decrying the Trans Pacific Partnership, while others modified various pro-Clinton signs handed out by DNC staff and volunteers. A few could also be seen with tape over their mouths with the word “silenced” written on it. To even get inside the convention center, delegates and other attendees had to pass through throngs of demonstrators on the outside, many of whom marched up to four miles from City Hall. Dozens were peacefully arrested in acts of civil disobedience.

Maureen Sullivan, an Illinois delegate who also served as a whip, said many delegates she spoke with felt silenced:

"It's as if we don't exist. They're trying to tell us—the Hillary people up here right now are telling us they believe in a democratic process, but we know what's happened over the last few days with Wikileaks, etc, the democratic process has not been maintained. Here we are with this hypocrisy—we're basically told 'shh, your guy lost so you're not able to say anything.'"

While there was palpable anger towards the DNC, there was also plenty of it left for Republican carnival barker Donald Trump, from both the stage and the floor. Nearly every speaker excoriated the ugliness of his fascist circus, with ads showing his “greatest hits” peppered in between. “Other than talking about building a stupid wall — which will never get built — other than that wall, did you hear any actual ideas,” said Elizabeth Warren. “We've watched him try to get laughs at others' expense; try to incite fear at a time when we need to inspire courage; try to rise in the polls by dragging our national conversation into the gutter,” said Cory Booker.

Sullivan also slammed Trump as well and said most of the delegates she's spoken with agree, lest pundits and other right-wing idealouges chime in the idea that Sanders supporters might board his train in November. “I don't see anyone going to Trump. I know they know that's dangerous," she said.

While fractures in the party were obvious throughout the evening, First Lady Michelle Obama managed to bring most of the audience together towards the tail end of the evening, in a rousing speech leaning on her personal and family life, and experiences in the White House.

“That is the story of this country, the story that has brought me to this stage tonight, the story of generations of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation, but who kept on striving and hoping and doing what needed to be done so that today I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves,” said Obama. "And I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent, black young women playing with their dogs on the White House lawn."