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Op-Ed: Sanders was unable to add key points in Democratic platform

At the rally in New Hampshire where Sanders endorsed Clinton, he said: “Secretary Clinton has won the Democratic nominating process. And I congratulate her for that. She will be the Democratic nominee for president and I intend to do everything I can to make certain that she will be the next president of the United States. I have come here today not to talk about the past, but to focus on the future, I have come here to make it as clear as possible as to why I am endorsing Hillary Clinton and why she must become our next president.”

Sanders was able to add progressive planks to the Democratic platform on climate change, health care, a $15 dollar minimum wage and also on college tuition fees. Apparently this was enough for Sanders to come out with a ringing endorsement of Hillary. Sanders said: “Our job now is to see that platform implemented by a Democratic Senate, a Democratic House and a Hillary Clinton president, and I am going to do everything I can to make that happen, Hillary Clinton will make an outstanding president and I am proud to stand with her here today.” However, not all Sanders’ supporters will support Hillary, who they see as a classic example of a Washington insider with ties to Wall Street. Nevertheless, Sanders appears to have been successful in drawing many young people and leftists to work to help Clinton defeat Drumpf.

Jill Stein, the likely candidate of the Green Party for president firmly rejected the idea that progressives should vote for Clinton in spite of Sanders’ endorsement. Stein said: “If you don’t want to vote for a war monger or racist billionaire, there are more options. The political revolution will keep going.” Stein had even offered to step aside and let Sanders run for president of the Green Party hoping that Sanders would see that he could not “have a revolutionary campaign in a counter-revolutionary party”. From the very beginning it was clear that Sanders had no intention of running as a third party candidate. He was working from within. He achieved some progressive changes in the Democratic platform in exchange for ensuring that leftists and many young people will use their energies to elect Clinton, the lesser evil. At the same time, they are electing a president whom Wall Street probably think of as the greater good compared to Drumpf.

Stein tweeted that: “Many Berning hearts are breaking right now.” It is not clear that there are that many. Most Bernie followers will settle for an improved platform and a chance to defeat Drumpf. Stein noted that if Hillary really wanted to advance Bernie’s agenda she could choose him as her vice presidential candidate. Clinton is not about to do that any more than she would choose Elizabeth Warren for the post.

One of the key planks that Sanders wanted in the Democratic Platform was explicit opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership(TPP) trade deal. Clinton supporters and powerful union heads prevented any mention of direct opposition to the TPP by voting for a compromise bill that condemned unfair trade deals but did not specify the TPP. An amendment to the bill that said simply “..and that is why we oppose the TPP” was soundly defeated. Explicit opposition to the TPP was defeated even though Hillary and the unions say they are opposed to it.

Another important plank that was defeated was a proposed ban on fracking. On foreign policy, the platform has nothing about opposing illegal Israeli settlements. A motion called for “an end to occupations and illegal settlements.” It was defeated by Clinton backers who argued that language calling for a two-state solution giving Palestinians a homeland was sufficient. Going further, they claimed, would inflame tensions. It might entail fewer donations from pro-Israel supporters of the Democrats as well.

The Clinton supporters also defeated a strong motion on the “revolving door” which read: “Democrats will support laws that will prohibit public officials from working for the industries they regulate for at least four years after they leave office. We will also support prohibiting lobbyists who work for Wall Street or corporate interests from serving on public boards and regulating agencies that previously regulated them.”

The platform is not binding and is to a degree symbolic. There are already portions of the platform that Clinton disagrees with, such as doing away with capital punishment. Sanders has managed to channel leftist energy into the standard two-party system; the same system which ensures that the establishment only has to buy off two parties, avoiding the complicated jockeying characteristic of countries with multi-party systems.

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