PHILADELPHIA — Democrats proved Monday that they can be as dysfunctional as Republicans, which is fun for those of us who cover political dysfunction for a living.
Here are some takeaways from the first day of the Democratic convention, which began only after host Debbie Wasserman Schultz was essentially disinvited:
It still Berns
One thing was clear Monday: Bernie Sanders ' supporters are nowhere near ready to kiss and make up with a Democratic Party that they feel worked against their candidate and their movement, especially after recently released party emails by Wikileaks further confirmed in their view.
Bernie backers booed lustily as the platform and rules were adopted, chanting over even the opening invocation, and for the first hour or so of the proceedings, booed every mention of Hillary Clinton 's name.
Even Elizabeth Warren was heckled later by a few disgruntled convention-goers over her prime-time speech in support of Clinton. "We trusted you!" they shouted.
Many Sanders delegates acknowledged off the floor that they would likely end up voting for Clinton because they REALLY don't like Donald Trump . But it was also clear that Clinton has a ways to go to make these people into something more that reluctant supporters.
Texas delegate Barbara Fetonte said, "She needs to show in her actions that she wants us and right now she really hasn’t done that." And while Sanders has said his supporters should back Clinton, "Bernie can’t just say it and it happens. I love Bernie and I respect the hell out of him, but it’s hard.”
The Progressive Party
There are obviously still fences to mend (see above), but the message Democrats aimed to send on the first night of their convention was clear: The party's leading liberals are firmly behind Clinton.
There was Minnesota Sen. Al Franken doing what amounted to a stand-up routine, both by himself and later with comedienne Sarah Silverman , eviscerating Trump on everything fromTrump University to Trump steaks.
There was Warren, the Massachusetts senator and hero of the left who withheld her endorsement of Clinton until June, blasting away at Trump, which has become her favorite past-time on Twitter. She took aim at his "stupid wall," Trump University and for saying "he was excited for the 2008 housing crash."
“What kind of a man acts like this?” she asked.
“I’ll tell you what kind of a man – a man who must never be president of the United States.”
Sanders closed out the night. The primary runner-up touched on a number of familiar themes from the stump speech he's delivered countless times, railing against income inequality, the Citizens United Supreme Court decision on campaign finance and continued his calls for "political revolution."
But the Vermont senator emphasized that his movement — and his supporters who are not quite ready to hear the message of party unity — should direct their energies toward a different goal than the one they'd focused on the past year.
“Based on her ideas and her leadership, Hillary Clinton must become the next president of the United States," Sanders said.
First lady gives an anti-Trump speech her way
She spoke as a mother concerned about the example the next president would set, saying "every election is about who will have the power to shape our children for the next four or eight years."
The first lady made a series of thinly veiled references to Trump without ever using his name. She said the presidency couldn't be “boiled down to 140 characters" and that "you can't have a thin skin." And in a critique of Trump's campaign slogan, Obama said, "Don’t let anyone tell you that this country isn’t great.”
Obama also lauded Clinton, her husband's former rival. “What I admire most about Hillary is she never buckles under pressure," the first lady said. "She never takes the easy way out. And Hillary Clinton has never quit on anything in her life.”
Obama also spoke of the nation's progress, with a message that rang quite differently than what was heard the previous week. “I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves," the first lady said.
"And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters and all our sons and daughters now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States."
Everybody hates free trade
The "Love Trumps Hate" signs and the "Clinton/Kaine" signs were nearly outnumbered by the "No TPP" signs being furiously waved by delegates, signs that may just as easily have been proudly displayed by delegates at the Republican convention last week.
It is fascinating that one of the few bipartisan agreements in Washington — that free-trade agreements are critical for economic growth — has been resoundingly rejected by large chunks of the grass roots in both parties. It is hard to imagine Congress passing or the next president signing any kind of trade agreement, no matter who wins.
As it happens, Tuesday night's featured speaker, former president Bill Clinton , signed theNorth American Free Trade Agreement into law in 1993 — a trade deal that's become anathema to Sanders and his supporters.
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