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Hillary Clinton wins the nomination but not the support

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bernie-bustBernie Sanders supporters protested at the Democratic National Convention even as Hillary Clinton won a large majority of votes and backing from her progressive rival. DW’s Hecko Flores reports from Philadelphia.

Thousands of Bernie Sanders’ supporters protesting outside the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia cheered loudly during roll call as states cast their votes in favor of the senator. They ultimately erupted in boos once Hillary Clinton clinched the nomination.

The number of votes needed for the nomination was 2,382. Bernie Sanders won 14 states and territories with a total of 1,865 votes, while Hillary Clinton won 42 states and territories with 2,842 votes.

“When was the last time that so many people from our own party came out to protest our own candidate?” asked Natalie Delgado, a fervent 27-year-old Bernie supporter from Lodi, New Jersey.

She drove down to Philadelphia to protest the DNC along with her friends. Natalie is just one of many young people who are inspired by Sanders’ rhetoric to participate actively in politics and who are unhappy with the current political system in the US.

“We love Bernie’s ideals and we stand by those ideals but not the man necessarily,” said Nick Santacroce, a 29-year-old medical technologist and Natalie’s friend.

Disillusioned with the end of Bernie’s campaign, neither will be voting for Hillary Clinton despite Sanders’ recent endorsement of the former First Lady.

“They view us as Bernie’s puppets and that we will blindly follow anything that he tells us – because they are party puppets and follow anything their chairman tells them,” said Delgado. “I’ll be writing in Bernie on the ballot.”

Voting your blue conscience

Her friend, Nick, is currently undecided but is also considering writing Bernie on the ballot. “I’ll most likely write in Bernie’s name but only because I live in a blue state,” says Nick.

Being in a “blue state” means that the state majority will vote Democrat and guarantees that the state’s votes will go to Clinton in the electoral college during the general election, another aspect of American politics that has been heavily criticized as it does not represent a direct democracy.

Deborah Kim from Seattle flew to Philadelphia also to protest and show her discontent with the Democratic Party. “I will not be voting Democrat during this election. We want to make a point and show the party that we do not agree with their practices,” said Kim, who will be voting for third-party candidate Jill Stein.

Kim admitted that she feels safe voting for Jill Stein since she lives in a blue state as well. If she lived in a swing state, she would reluctantly vote for Hillary Clinton as she understands that voting third-party could translate into helping the Republican Party.

Third-party candidates have failed to obtain more than one percent of the popular votes in the last three elections, while the rest of the votes have been divided within the well-established Democratic and Republican parties.

“This is no longer working for us. We need to free ourselves from the two-party system,” said Maria Guido from Pittsburgh. She made the trip to her state’s largest city to show support for Bernie Sanders.

“I have not lost any respect for Bernie. I understand that he was forced to play ball with the Democrats and did what he had to do,” said Guido, who was sporting a “Bernie or Bust” T-shirt and buttons with #NeverHillary written on them.

‘I’m with him’

Protesters carrying signs continued their anti-Clinton chants in unison despite the summer heat until sunset. Among them was Christopher Norris, an activist with NextGen Climate. He made blue buttons with the inscription “Flip-a-Delegate” on them in the hope of getting delegates to change their vote for the senator from Vermont.

source: http://www.dw.com/en/hillary-clinton-wins-the-nomination-but-not-the-support/a-19428938

Independent senator, Bernie Sanders, to run against Clinton

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0,,18419883_303,00Self-described socialist Bernie Sanders is expected to announce his bid for presidency on the Democratic ticket. The independent from Vermont wants “fundamental change” to redistribute wealth to the middle class.

A day ahead of his expected official announcement, the senator from the northeastern US state of Vermont spoke to US media outlets confirming his intentions to run against Hillary Clinton.

“People should not underestimate me,” Sanders told the Associated Press news agency in an exclusive interview. “I’ve run outside of the two-party system, defeating Democrats and Republicans, taking on big-money candidates and, you know, I think the message that has resonated [in my home state] is a message that can resonate all over this country.”

In an interview with USA Today, he underlined his campaign strategy of appealing to voters’ wish for “a fundamental change so that government works for ordinary Americans and not just billionaires.”

The 73-year-old Independent has earned a reputation as one of the most liberal politicians on Capitol Hill during his 25-year tenure in Congress. He served in the US House of Representatives from 1990 to 2006, and was then elected to the US Senate where he continues to hold a seat.

Thus far, Clinton, has been the only Democrat to put her name forward for what is expected to be the most expensive presidential campaign in US history.

Before each party can nominate a candidate, contenders must run against fellow party members in state-by-state elections, known as the primaries, slated to begin in February 2016.

The man of the 99%

In the lead-up to his official announcement, which is expected on Thursday, Sanders made clear his intentions of reforming the tax system to revive the middle class by slapping “the top 1%” with heavier taxes. He also took aim at the billionaire Koch brothers, who have announced a 2016 campaign finance budget of nearly $900 million (810 million euros), which is expected to boost the Republican Party’s presidential and congressional candidates. arlier this month, Sanders also took aim at Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton’s ties to American wealth and power in bid to undermine her credibility. “I do have doubts about whether Hillary Clinton or whether any Republican candidate out there is prepared to take on the big money interests who control so much of our economy,” he told US broadcaster Fox News earlier this month. Clinton, he said, would have to convince the American people that, despite her past record, “she is going to break up the major banks on Wall Street.” In addition to his support for higher taxes and tighter regulation, Sanders has also previously opposed international trade agreements, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or T.P.P., which he attributes to the demise of American manufacturing. Small fish in a big pond


A champion of the American worker and a politician from a state with one of the lowest populations in the US, Sanders would face a huge fundraising challenge in an era where private interests can keep their preferred candidates afloat with unlimited funding under the protection of so-called Super PACs.

Hillary Clinton has already set a $100 million budget goal for the Democratic primary race, which is only the first leg of the race to become the president of the United States.

kms/bw (AP, Reuters)