Sanders Outlines The Changes He’d Like To See From The Democratic Party

Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a news conference outside his campaign headquarters in Washington, Tuesday, June 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) called for a number of changes to the Democratic Party hours before the final presidential primary in Washington, D.C. and a week after Hillary Clinton was declared the party’s presumptive nominee.

In a Tuesday news conference in Washington, Sanders called for a number of changes, including new leadership at the Democratic National Committee, approving a progressive platform at the Democratic convention this summer and electoral reforms.

Sanders has had several disagreements with DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), who he argues has been biased toward Clinton. The Vermont senator has gone so far as to begin fundraising for Wasserman Schultz’s primary opponent.

“We need a person at the leadership of the DNC who is vigorously supporting and out working to bring people into the political process,” Sanders said.

Sanders said the party also needed to green-light “the most Progressive platform ever passed by the Democratic Party” to prove that it was allied with the working class and would go up against “corporate interest.” He further called for a more open primary process and same-day voter registration.

“We need open, same day registration,” Sanders said. “And that means anybody in this country can walk in and get registered to vote on the day of a primary or a caucus. We need adequate staffing and training to run elections in a way that is appropriate for our democracy.”

According to The New York Times, Sanders also said “we need obviously to get rid of superdelegates.” His campaign previously argued it could appeal to superdelegates to flip their support from Clinton to the Vermont senator as one strategy to clinch the Democratic nomination.

Sanders and Clinton were scheduled to meet Tuesday evening and Sanders was expected to address his supporters in a live stream Thursday.

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Notable Replies

  1. Open, same day registration for primaries? No, thank you.

  2. Avatar for mymy mymy says:

    I thought there would be something new here other than his blathering about DWS. The man really have virtually nothing of importance now. He made clear he had no idea what HRC’s actual policy positions are when he slipped and said he’d be talking her to find out what her positions were.

  3. While the rest of the country grapples with mass murder in Orlando, Sanders continues to whip his one trick pony.

    Fuck off already, you douche.

  4. I don’t really see anything wrong with what he said. Keep pulling leftward, Bernie. There’s time for you to redeem yourself yet.

    Why not? You think people with sneaky plans and the actual motivation to register as a Dem just to vote for the worst candidate are going to miss the deadline, regardless of when it is set?

    But I digress: I mean to tell everyone who wants to go on a Bernie Derangement Syndrome rant that their bandwagon broke down a few miles back, so they should probably just let it all go. He’s doing what he should be doing. No, Orlando doesn’t get to be the ONLY thing we talk about. No, he shouldn’t just shut up and stop talking about pulling the Dems back towards the left where they belong. No, he’s not going to be the nominee, his continued presence isn’t going to fuck everything up and make Trump POTUS. And no, perpetuating the anger, resentment and spite towards Bernie and his supporters (and vice versa) is not a grand idea, doesn’t sound like a great time, won’t make visiting this site all the more fun and informative and isn’t a super healthy choice for this community.

  5. The entire primary system is a mess, about that Sanders is right, but it’s not something that’s run by the DNC. Sanders just has a personal beef with Wasserman-Schultz (who I don’t like in the first place, but not because of him).

    To go about actually changing the primary process and cleaning it up is something each state has to do on its own account.

    Oh, and get rid of caucuses, for fuck’s sake.

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