As Sanders supporters flock to Philadelphia, what do they want?
Sen. Bernie Sanders is likely to see a large show of support at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) which starts on Monday as protesters flock from all over the country to show that they are still "feeling the Bern."
Some of the policy changes the protesters are expected to be pushing for include reform of the superdelegate election system, removal of the DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schulz, and a law that would automatically register all Americans to vote when the turn 18.
City officials in Philadelphia are expecting anywhere from 35,000 to 50,000 demonstrators to be present throughout the week and for many of those to be Sanders supporters as nine of the 28 permits to hold official rallies during the convention were given to protesters inspired by the Vermont senator.
A Pew Research Center poll that was published earlier this month found that of the people who voted for Sanders in the primary election, 85 percent are planning to vote for Hillary Clinton in the general election, 9 percent for Donald Trump, and the remaining 6 percent were either for a third-party candidate or were undecided.
At this point, most of the Sanders supporters simply want to fight for the policy changes advocated by the candidate on the campaign trail and push the Democratic Party leftward.
But then there is the 鈥淏ernie or Bust鈥� crowd, who were totally unswayed by the senator鈥檚 endorsement of Mrs. Clinton and who are waiting on an a superdelegate uprising at the convention.
鈥淚t鈥檚 鈥榃e the People鈥� who are going to continue to lead this revolution,鈥� Billy Taylor, a pro-Sanders activist who was issued permits to hold rallies on each day of the convention, . 鈥淲e are not going to vote for the demon named Hillary just because you are threatening us with the devil named Trump.鈥�
For others it is less about the hope that Sanders will make a miraculous comeback, but about making a public statement to the Democratic Party 鈥� that voters feel disrespected and that the party is going to have to work to win them over.
鈥淚 won鈥檛 say that I鈥檇 rather see Trump get in, but I want (the Clinton campaign) to squirm for the rest of the election season, wondering what鈥檚 going to happen,鈥� Laurie Cestnick, a Sanders supporter who has been organizing protesters to come to Philadelphia through her Occupy DNC Convention July 2016 Facebook page, told USA Today. 聽鈥淚 just want them to know that our votes matter and you can鈥檛 do that to the American people again.鈥�
In addition to being disappointed with Sanders endorsement of Clinton, many Bernie supporters are unhappy with Clinton鈥檚 choice of Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine as her running mate.聽They are worried that the moderate will sway Clinton to change her mind on issues important to progressive liberals such as climate change and college tuition.
It "was a horrible pick," Angie Morelli, a Sanders delegate from Nevada, . "In a time when she is trying to cater to Sanders supporters, it was more catering to conservative voters and she's not going to get any wave from it."
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report
