Sanders addresses 'Bernie-or-Bust' protesters at DNC

Morgan Allen
Journalism Intern

Monday, at the Democratic National Convention, Sen. Bernie Sanders was introduced by Rep. Keith Ellison, who hyped up the crowd, reminding them of the ‘divide and conquer’ method by Trump and urging them to “work together and vote together.”

Advocating for the opposition of the Trump-Pence campaign, Ellison said, “Not voting is not a protest; it’s a surrender.”

A sentiment many at the convention understand; yet a small fraction of Bernie Sanders supporters are choosing to fight against.

“As a proud Bernie Sanders supporter, I will always remember feeling the Bern in Minnesota! Together, Democrats we will make our voices heard by defeating Donald Trump and electing Hillary Rodham Clinton as our next President of the United States of America,” he said enthusiastically.

Cheers and chants erupted at every few words.

Sanders, introduced with a clip from his campaign travels, was accompanied by Simon and Garfunkel’s light voices in the background.

There was an invigorating welcome from the crowd, who Bernie thanked at least ten times before beginning his speech. The applause lasted over three full minutes. “It was so loud it was just unbearable,” a supporter said. “More than it was for Michelle [Obama] – more than it was for any other speaker.”

Sanders mobilized a new generation of voters, who achieved eight million individual campaign contributions with a $27 average.

More than 13 million voted for the “political revolution.”

Because Clinton was officiated as the Democratic nominee for the 2016 election despite the alleged rigging of the polling process by the Democratic National Committee, Sanders touched on the subject.

“I understand that many people here in this convention hall and around the country are disappointed about the final results of the nominating process. I think its fair to say that no one is more disappointed than I am.”

The audience let out a sigh of laughter along with the smiling senator. “But to all of our supporters here and around the country: I hope you take enormous pride in the historical accomplishments we have achieved.”

Cheers and shots of crying people in the audience graced the big screen above Sanders.

“Together, my friends, we have begun a political revolution to transform America, and that revolution, our revolution, continues.”

He continued, “And I look forward to being part of that struggle with you.”

Sanders said loosely that the 2016 election is not about, “and has never been about,” Hillary Clinton, or Donald trump, or Bernie Sanders, or any of the other candidates who sought the presidency.

“This election is not about political gossip, it’s not about polls, it’s not about campaign strategy, not about fundraising; it is not about all the things that the media spends so much time discussing,” he said to wild applause.

Sanders once again discussed the decline of the middle class and the unfortunate poverty of American working families, as well as gross wealth inequality.

Chants of “we are the 99 percent” arose as he spoke.

Bernie said that, “real problems need real solutions. Not just fear mongering, name calling and divisiveness. We need leadership which brings our people together and makes us stronger…Not leadership that insults Latinxs and Mexicans, insults Muslims and women, African Americans and veterans, and Trump seeks to divide us up.

“By these measures, any objective observer would conclude that based on her ideas and her leadership, Hillary Clinton must become the next president of the United States.”

He spoke of Clinton’s shared ideals and their working together on the 2016 Democratic Platform.

“If you don’t believe that this election is important…if you think you can sit it out...take a moment to think about the Supreme Court Justices that Donald Trump would nominate and what that would mean to civil liberties, equal rights and the future of our country.”

He finished to massive applause and less boos than heard during the extent of the first day of the convention, saying, “Hillary Clinton will make an outstanding president and I am proud to stand with her tonight.”

Sara Ritsch contributed to this report.
Copyright The Gayly - 7/26/2016 @ 8:03 a.m. CDT