Vermont Senator and former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie
Sanders departs the podium after addressing the Democratic National
Convention at the Wells Fargo Centre in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July
25, 2016. PHOTO | BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI | AFP
PHILADELPHIA, UNITED STATES
Democratic power players Michelle Obama and Bernie Sanders offered contrasting heartfelt and hard-headed endorsements of Hillary Clinton on Monday, imploring a riven and feisty party convention to unite to stop Donald Trump.
As polls showed Trump ahead of Clinton in the race to the White House, the first lady wowed the Philadelphia crowd as she impeached Trump's behaviour and hailed the inspirational power of possibly having a first female US president.
From Sanders, Clinton's vanquished primary rival, there was a much more pragmatic embrace.
"Based on her ideas and her leadership," Clinton was a better choice than Trump and "must become the next president of the United States," he said.
The opening day of the four-day convention in Philadelphia was dominated by boos and jeers from disgruntled Sanders supporters almost every time Clinton's name was mentioned.
Sanders had called on his supporters to get behind the Democratic nominee twice on Monday before his primetime endorsement speech.
That included a text message sent to supporters asking them not to protest on the floor of the convention as a "personal courtesy" to him.
But Sanders' self-styled "political revolution" appeared to have transformed into a revolt.
Sanders himself was booed by some sections of the audience when he told the crowd: "Hillary Clinton will make an outstanding president and I am proud to stand with her tonight."
As the boos and chants of "Bernie! Bernie!" continued inside the convention hall throughout the evening, Sanders protesters outside tried to breach security barriers, leading to 54 people being briefly detained and fined $50 each.
"Clinton can't beat Trump. Period," said Michigan delegate Melissa Arab, a Sanders supporter.
"A ham sandwich could beat Trump and she's not going to beat him. If she's nominated, people are going to end up with somebody bad for president."
Hoping to poach some of Sanders' supporters, Trump tweeted: "Bernie Sanders totally sold out to Crooked Hillary Clinton. All of that work, energy and money, and nothing to show for it! Waste of time."
FIRST FAMILY FIRST
Michelle Obama's message was at once conciliatory, raw and personal — and earned by far the most positive response of the night.
"Because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters and all of our sons and daughters now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States," said the wife of America's first black president, her voice cracking with emotion.
The outgoing first lady reminisced about her two "bubbly little girls" Sasha and Malia as they entered the White House, and how they are leaving it as "poised young women."
But — in a thinly veiled jab at Trump — she also painted a picture of a family that had to struggle with the shrill tone of today's zero-sum politics.
"We urge them to ignore those who question their father's citizenship or faith," she said, a clear reference to Trump's early demands to see President Barack Obama's birth certificate.
"We insist that the hateful language they hear from public figures on TV does not represent the true spirit of this country," the first lady said in a message that Democrats will hope resonates with fathers and mothers voting in November.
"Our motto is, 'when they go low, we go high.'"
Obama did not always have easy relations with Team Clinton during the 2008 primary race. But she lauded the former first lady for not getting angry when she lost to Barack Obama that year.
"Hillary did not pack up and go home. Because as a true public servant, Hillary knows that this is so much bigger than her own desires and disappointments." she said.
PARTY INFIGHTING
But the party is reeling from leaked Democratic National Committee emails which show nominally neutral party staff trying to undermine Sanders' campaign and questioning his Jewish faith.
WikiLeaks at the weekend released nearly 20,000 emails from between January 2015 and May 2016, gleaned by hackers who apparently raided the accounts of seven DNC leaders.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it was investigating the "cyber intrusion," which the Clinton campaign blamed on Russian hackers bent on helping Trump.
Sanders lost to Clinton in the primary handily. But the scandal has angered his already embittered supporters, who believe the deck was stacked against them.
It has led to the ouster of party chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and a "deep and sincere" apology from party leaders.
Some delegates appeared willing to form a united front.
"The stakes are too high. In the end it's going to be either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump and it's not even a close call," said Paul Czisny, a 57-year-old delegate from Wisconsin who had supported Sanders.
Derek Evans, a 34-year-old delegate from Missouri, said of Sanders' speech: "What he said was what was needed."
New polls showed Trump surging since his confirmation last week as the Republican presidential nominee, with a CNN poll putting him three percentage points ahead of Clinton — a six-point post-convention bump.
But the disunity overshadowed the convention's anti-Trump message and its courting of Latino voters.
Clinton's running mate Kaine, a senator from Virginia, said in an interview broadcast Monday that their administration would press for immigration reform in their first 100 days in office.
Democratic power players Michelle Obama and Bernie Sanders offered contrasting heartfelt and hard-headed endorsements of Hillary Clinton on Monday, imploring a riven and feisty party convention to unite to stop Donald Trump.
As polls showed Trump ahead of Clinton in the race to the White House, the first lady wowed the Philadelphia crowd as she impeached Trump's behaviour and hailed the inspirational power of possibly having a first female US president.
From Sanders, Clinton's vanquished primary rival, there was a much more pragmatic embrace.
"Based on her ideas and her leadership," Clinton was a better choice than Trump and "must become the next president of the United States," he said.
The opening day of the four-day convention in Philadelphia was dominated by boos and jeers from disgruntled Sanders supporters almost every time Clinton's name was mentioned.
Sanders had called on his supporters to get behind the Democratic nominee twice on Monday before his primetime endorsement speech.
That included a text message sent to supporters asking them not to protest on the floor of the convention as a "personal courtesy" to him.
But Sanders' self-styled "political revolution" appeared to have transformed into a revolt.
Sanders himself was booed by some sections of the audience when he told the crowd: "Hillary Clinton will make an outstanding president and I am proud to stand with her tonight."
As the boos and chants of "Bernie! Bernie!" continued inside the convention hall throughout the evening, Sanders protesters outside tried to breach security barriers, leading to 54 people being briefly detained and fined $50 each.
"Clinton can't beat Trump. Period," said Michigan delegate Melissa Arab, a Sanders supporter.
"A ham sandwich could beat Trump and she's not going to beat him. If she's nominated, people are going to end up with somebody bad for president."
Hoping to poach some of Sanders' supporters, Trump tweeted: "Bernie Sanders totally sold out to Crooked Hillary Clinton. All of that work, energy and money, and nothing to show for it! Waste of time."
FIRST FAMILY FIRST
Michelle Obama's message was at once conciliatory, raw and personal — and earned by far the most positive response of the night.
"Because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters and all of our sons and daughters now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States," said the wife of America's first black president, her voice cracking with emotion.
The outgoing first lady reminisced about her two "bubbly little girls" Sasha and Malia as they entered the White House, and how they are leaving it as "poised young women."
But — in a thinly veiled jab at Trump — she also painted a picture of a family that had to struggle with the shrill tone of today's zero-sum politics.
"We urge them to ignore those who question their father's citizenship or faith," she said, a clear reference to Trump's early demands to see President Barack Obama's birth certificate.
"We insist that the hateful language they hear from public figures on TV does not represent the true spirit of this country," the first lady said in a message that Democrats will hope resonates with fathers and mothers voting in November.
"Our motto is, 'when they go low, we go high.'"
Obama did not always have easy relations with Team Clinton during the 2008 primary race. But she lauded the former first lady for not getting angry when she lost to Barack Obama that year.
"Hillary did not pack up and go home. Because as a true public servant, Hillary knows that this is so much bigger than her own desires and disappointments." she said.
PARTY INFIGHTING
But the party is reeling from leaked Democratic National Committee emails which show nominally neutral party staff trying to undermine Sanders' campaign and questioning his Jewish faith.
WikiLeaks at the weekend released nearly 20,000 emails from between January 2015 and May 2016, gleaned by hackers who apparently raided the accounts of seven DNC leaders.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it was investigating the "cyber intrusion," which the Clinton campaign blamed on Russian hackers bent on helping Trump.
Sanders lost to Clinton in the primary handily. But the scandal has angered his already embittered supporters, who believe the deck was stacked against them.
It has led to the ouster of party chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and a "deep and sincere" apology from party leaders.
Some delegates appeared willing to form a united front.
"The stakes are too high. In the end it's going to be either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump and it's not even a close call," said Paul Czisny, a 57-year-old delegate from Wisconsin who had supported Sanders.
Derek Evans, a 34-year-old delegate from Missouri, said of Sanders' speech: "What he said was what was needed."
New polls showed Trump surging since his confirmation last week as the Republican presidential nominee, with a CNN poll putting him three percentage points ahead of Clinton — a six-point post-convention bump.
But the disunity overshadowed the convention's anti-Trump message and its courting of Latino voters.
Clinton's running mate Kaine, a senator from Virginia, said in an interview broadcast Monday that their administration would press for immigration reform in their first 100 days in office.
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