Sometimes democracy needs a good hug: Column
In Philly, Democrats are working to pull unity out of hazy reality.
On the way to the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia Monday my taxi was surrounded by demonstrators carrying a 50-foot joint down broad street chanting, “Show me what democracy looks like, this is what democracy looks like.”
I unsuccessfully tried to engage in a dialogue with the protesters asking if they believed the Democratic Party should overturn the will of its voters and nominate Bernie Sanders. While those I asked primarily said yes, they refused to engage on the merits of whether overturning the will of Democratic primary voters would be an act of democracy.
On the floor of the convention democracy was clear. A delegate from California screamed, “Lock her up!” as a speaker on stage touted the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. Across the floor Bernie Sanders supporters in full regalia — shirts, pins, buttons and hats — expressed a variety of views from full-throated support for the Democratic nominee to maintaining their stalwart belief in Bernie or Bust. Throughout the night some of these Sanders supporters booed and catcalled, signifying their disappointment.
And that is what democracy looks like.
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It’s messy and unsanitized. It is complex and emotional. People dedicate their hearts and souls to their candidates and we should not expect that to fade simply because a primary comes to an end. Yet in this political climate there is a demand in the media for democracy to be clean and unmarred by protests and alternative voices. We would like people to fit in easy boxes. That is simply not realistic.
Yet despite this seemingly rocky start, unity was on the horizon.
I asked party vice chair Donna Brazile, who will serve as the interim head of the party following the departure of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, if she was worried about disruptions outside and inside the all. “My first convention was in 1984 I was a Jackson delegate,” Brazile told me. “I come from the movement side of the politics. I’m an activist. I told my friends I am stepping down from what became and going back to who I am. I’m an activist. That’s why I’m on the floor. That’s why I decided to step down and step up and become interim chair at the end of week.”
Moments later she and Bernie Sanders' campaign manager crossed paths. After committing to work together to elect Hillary Clinton and defeat Donald Trump in November they embraced, joining the insurgent and activist spirit of the Sanders campaign with a desire to win in November.
By the end of the night, as Bernie Sanders was leading the call for unity telling the convention “any objective observer will conclude that, based on her ideas and her leadership, Hillary Clinton must become the next president of the United States. The choice is not even close.”
Ari Rabin-Havt is host of The Agenda on SiriusXM Progress 127. Find him on twitter @AriRabinHavt.
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