PHILADELPHIA >> Even Bernie Sanders is struggling to calm his angry delegates who have arrived in Philadelphia furious with Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party.
In a scene that Democrats are crossing their fingers won’t be repeated later this evening when Sanders wraps up the first night the Democratic National Convention, his delegates lustily booed when Sanders told them to support Clinton.
“Brothers and Sisters, this is the real world that we live in,” Sanders said pleading with the crowd of more than 1,000 supporters at the Pennsylvania Convention Center to unite behind Clinton and her running mate Tim Kaine.
Still, Sanders made no effort to vouch for Clinton. Instead, he continued to stress that Trump was a “bully and a demagogue,” with no respect for the constitution or civil liberties.
“Trump is a danger for the future of our country and must be defeated,” Sanders said as his supporters continued to jeer Clinton. “And I intend to do everything I can to see that he is defeated.”
Sanders delegates arrived in Philadelphia fighting mad after a weekend of chaos within the party when WikiLeaks unleashed nearly 20,000 private emails from DNC officials showing they favored Clinton’s campaign at the expense of Sanders.
At a loud and raucous breakfast meeting, California delegates for Sanders clashed with Hillary Clinton delegates, with some shouting out the Trumpisms of “lock her up!” and “rigged system!” And at a breakfast for Florida delegates, Sanders supporters booed and hissed at the party’s chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who announced she was resigning after the convention in the wake of the WikiLeaks scandal.
“All hell broke loose,” Jan Lund, a Sanders delegate from Florida, said when Wasserman Schultz took the stage. “It became a melee in front of the podium.”
He says he was shocked the disgraced DNC chair kept her place on the speaking schedule.
“What a stupid move to put her up there “ Lund said. “Instead of dousing the embers, they’re throwing gasoline.”
On a day meant to unify the party behind Clinton, Sanders delegates chanted “Bernie” and booed Clinton supporters addressing a meeting of the California state delegation, including U.S. Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Mike Honda.
“We are not here to fall for the party unity ploy,” said Sanders Delegate Robert Shearer from Humboldt County who remained on his feet throughout the program shouting down the speakers at the Marriott Hotel. “Hillary Clinton and the DNC have not embraced the principles of our political revolution. We’re going to keep fighting.”
In a hotel ballroom set with platters of bacon and eggs, tensions mounted between both sides, with one Clinton delegate complaining that a Sanders supporter smacked her shoulder with a Sanders’ sticker.
“You get emotional, but you don’t hit someone,” said Mary Jane Sanchez-Fulton, a Clinton delegate from Palm Springs who held the crumpled Sanders sticker in her hand. “You’re going to divide, divide and divide. That’s not what this country is built on.”
After Sanders had publicly endorsed Clinton earlier this month, it appeared that the Democrats would come to Philadelphia ready to focus on defeating Trump. But the email scandal opened old wounds for Sanders delegates, who had long suspected that Democratic Party leaders were trying to undermine his campaign.
At this point it’s unclear whether Sanders can get his delegates back into the Democratic fold.
Rick Neuhoff, a Sanders delegate from Florida, who attended Sanders’ midday speech said he was prepared to vote for Clinton, but could barely bring himself to utter her name.
“I’ll vote for the Democrat because we are Never Trump,” he said. “Hold you’re nose and vote for Hillary — and hold her feet to the fire.”
At the California delegation’s breakfast, where Sanders delegates shouted “WikiLeaks! WikiLeaks!” there were few signs of reconciliation.
“They still are not understanding the whole issue of trust that has been broken by the emails that were leaked,” said Michael Fortes, a Sanders delegate from Oakland. “If you betray the trust of your constituents, this is what happens when people get upset.”
Clinton delegate Sandy Pina from Riverside was upset by the behavior she witnessed.
“We’re trying to reach out to them, but they are so angry,” Pina said. “Si se puede,” she said of the “yes we can” Democratic rallying cry. “But we just have to stop throwing tantrums.”
Highlighting the chasm between the two sides was Suzanne Savary, a 69-year-old Clinton delegate running for Congress in Orange County. As a group of Sanders supporters chanted “lock her up,” Savary got up from her seat table, pointed her finger in their faces and told them to stop it.
“They’re too young to understand that their behavior, rather than uniting, is the best tool Trump has,” Savary said. “It’s so hard to get the message through to these young people. They lost. It’s time to come together as a family and not let a megalomaniac take over our country.”
Congressman Honda raised his voice, trying to be heard over the crowd.
“We are a family,” Honda said. “This has to be a good reflection of this family and I’ll be damned if I’m a bad reflection of this family.”
Pelosi had to raise her voice to try to be heard over the crowd.
“Our values unite us,” she said. “When we are out for the world to see, let’s hope that we all can respect each other and understand that unity is strength.”
She ended with a rousing endorsement of Clinton and a question for the delegates: “Are you ready for California to lead the way to that Democratic victory in November?”
From a loud contingent in the ballroom, the answer: “Bernie! Bernie!”
