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Democrats Nominate Hillary Clinton Despite Sharp Divisions Democrats Make Hillary Clinton a Historic Nominee
(about 1 hour later)
PHILADELPHIA — A divided Democratic convention formally nominated Hillary Clinton for president on Tuesday, making history by choosing a woman to be the first standard-bearer of a major political party, even as a small faction of Bernie Sanders supporters walked out to protest her victory and policies. PHILADELPHIA — The Democratic convention formally nominated Hillary Clinton for president on Tuesday, making history by choosing a woman to be the first standard-bearer of a major political party, a breakthrough underscored by a deeply personal speech by Bill Clinton calling her “the best darn change-maker I have ever known.”
South Dakota cast the decisive 15 votes at 6:39 p.m., putting Mrs. Clinton over the threshold of 2,382 delegates required to clinch the nomination. But Mr. Sanders played a symbolic role in hopes of unifying the party behind her. At 6:39 p.m., the hall erupted in cheers and joyful tears as South Dakota cast the decisive 15 votes to put Mrs. Clinton over the threshold of 2,382 delegates required to clinch the nomination.
After his state, Vermont, arranged to go last in the roll call, Mr. Sanders joined its delegation to roars of “Bernie, Bernie” and called on the party to rally behind Mrs. Clinton. A sea of delegates waved multicolored signs with Mrs. Clinton’s “H” campaign logo, while others fell into hugs and several women jumped up and down with elation.
“Madam Chair, I move that the convention suspend the procedural rules, I move that all votes, all votes cast by delegates be reflected in the official record, and I move that Hillary Clinton be selected as the nominee of the Democratic Party for president of the United States,” he said. Vince Insalaco, the chairman of the Democratic Party of Arkansas, where the Clintons built their public profile over two decades, said the choice of the first female presidential nominee was a historic moment.
The arena exploded in cheers as a sea of delegates waved multicolored signs with Mrs. Clinton’s “H” campaign logo, while others fell into hugs and several women jumped up and down with joy. Mr. Sanders, his lips pressed together, hugged his wife, Jane, one of his closest political advisers, and waved briefly to the crowd before heading out of the hall less than a minute after he spoke.
Vince Insalaco, the chairman of the Democratic Party of Arkansas, where Mrs. Clinton and former President Bill Clinton built their public profile over two decades, said the choosing of the first female presidential nominee was a historic moment.
“I’m so proud to be a Democrat tonight,” Mr. Insalaco said, “and so proud that we can call this woman one of our own.”“I’m so proud to be a Democrat tonight,” Mr. Insalaco said, “and so proud that we can call this woman one of our own.”
Elsewhere on the floor, several dozen Sanders delegates paraded off in a coordinated demonstration against Mrs. Clinton’s nomination. Several of them said beforehand that they were attending their first Democratic convention and felt no party loyalty or compulsion to fall in line behind Mrs. Clinton, whom they described as insufficiently progressive on new banking regulations, a $15 minimum wage, a ban on fracking and other issues. Mrs. Clinton’s primary rival, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, played a symbolic role in hopes of unifying the party behind her. After Vermont arranged to go last in the roll call, Mr. Sanders joined its delegation to roars of “Bernie, Bernie” and called on the party to rally behind Mrs. Clinton.
But it was the appearance of Mr. Clinton, shortly after 10 p.m., that stirred the crowd most, as he set out to share a more personal side of the sometimes-reserved former secretary of state.
Unspooling memories of their 45 years together, Mr. Clinton used warm and detailed anecdotes to argue that the couple’s political enemies had spent decades creating a “cartoon” of his wife that he was now determined to puncture. Mrs. Clinton is among the most unpopular presidential nominees in modern history, and the former president appealed to the audience to see through the political attacks on her.
“One is real,” Mr. Clinton said of the divergent portrayals of his wife, “the other is made up.” He recalled the affection of Mrs. Clinton’s old friends, her empathy for those in need, and the praise she had won from Republicans as a senator and as secretary of state.
“You nominated the real one,” Mr. Clinton said to a long burst of applause. Seeming to realize that he had been speaking for 38 minutes, he added in classically loquacious Bill Clinton fashion, “We have to get back on schedule.”
Mr. Clinton’s testimony was so personal that he even appeared to obliquely invoke problems in the couple’s marriage.
“She’ll never quit on you,” he said. “She never quit on me.”
Earlier in the evening, several dozen Sanders delegates paraded off in a coordinated demonstration against Mrs. Clinton’s nomination. Some of them said beforehand that they were attending their first Democratic convention and felt no party loyalty or compulsion to fall in line behind Mrs. Clinton, whom they described as insufficiently progressive on new banking regulations, a $15 minimum wage, a ban on fracking and other issues.
“I’m just not there yet in terms of supporting Hillary, because her words are only her words, and I don’t fully trust that she’ll act on our agenda,” said Ingrid Olson, 38, a delegate from Iowa.“I’m just not there yet in terms of supporting Hillary, because her words are only her words, and I don’t fully trust that she’ll act on our agenda,” said Ingrid Olson, 38, a delegate from Iowa.
Ms. Olson, at her first convention, argued that party unity was a myth, saying that some Clinton campaign officials canvassing the floor had banned the homemade signs of Sanders supporters but handed out ones that championed Mrs. Clinton.
The final delegate count was 2,842 for Mrs. Clinton, 1,865 for Mr. Sanders and 56 “no votes.”The final delegate count was 2,842 for Mrs. Clinton, 1,865 for Mr. Sanders and 56 “no votes.”
The scenes in the hall, and huge street protests that continued through Tuesday night, were more fractious than those at the party’s gathering in Denver in 2008. Back then, Mrs. Clinton, defeated for the nomination, moved to stop the roll call and nominate Barack Obama. Her gesture, aimed at soothing the bitterness of the primary fight, helped her supporters make peace with Mr. Obama and embrace his barrier-breaking candidacy. The scenes in the hall, and the huge street protests that continued through Tuesday night, were more fractious than those at the party’s gathering in Denver in 2008. Back then, Mrs. Clinton, defeated for the nomination, moved to stop the roll call and nominate Barack Obama. Her gesture, aimed at soothing the bitterness of the primary fight, helped her supporters make peace with Mr. Obama and embrace his barrier-breaking candidacy.
Mr. Sanders and Mrs. Clinton had their own brutal competition this year, and their policy differences were greater than those of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama — part of why many of his supporters are reluctant to get behind her. On the convention floor on Tuesday, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said the Sanders delegates had already had a huge impact on the Democratic Party. Mr. Sanders and Mrs. Clinton had their own brutal competition this year, and their policy differences were greater than those between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama — part of why many of Mr. Sanders’s supporters are reluctant to get behind her.
“They did more to change the attitude of the party than anyone in a long time,” Mr. Biden said. Mr. Clinton’s task was clear: to humanize his wife but also energize Democrats by flattering those in the hall and villainizing Donald J. Trump, the Republican nominee.
The convention underwent a notable shift after the roll-call vote: Mr. Sanders was barely mentioned, a deliberate decision by the Clinton campaign officials who organized the lineup of speakers. Advisers said that, with Mrs. Clinton now the nominee, they wanted to focus on her character and political record, and on taking the fight to Donald J. Trump, rather than continuing to nod to Mr. Sanders and his primary fight. “She never made fun of people with disabilities,” Mr. Clinton said, referring to Mr. Trump’s mocking of a disabled reporter last year. “She tried to empower them based on their abilities.”
The crowd was subdued for much of the evening, but Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor, brought the delegates alive by rattling off the states Mrs. Clinton would carry, a good-natured re-enactment of his “Dean scream” from the 2004 presidential campaign. Yet as Mr. Clinton recounted his wife’s well-chronicled professional accomplishments, he also tried to paint a portrait of a mother who is not as well known. Recounting the day they moved their daughter, Chelsea, into her freshman dorm at Stanford University, Mr. Clinton recounted how Mrs. Clinton kept looking for “one more drawer to put that liner paper in,” reluctant to say goodbye to her only child.
In the most searing part of the evening, nine African-American mothers whose children were killed by gun violence or in encounters with the police took the stage to chants of “Black lives matter.” The women, who have been campaigning for Mrs. Clinton for months, described how she had sat with them privately to hear their stories and worked with them to promote gun-control measures. The speech was extraordinary in its intimacy and in Mr. Clinton’s willingness to use their much-scrutinized marriage as a testament to her character. He began by recalling how he first met his future wife in 1971 at Yale Law School — he so nervous, she full of confidence — and spent almost 15 minutes describing courting her and proposing marriage three times before she said yes. At one point, trying to play a mind game, Mr. Clinton told her that she should move to Illinois or New York and run for office rather than marry him and have other young Democrats eclipse her.
One of the mothers, Lucia McBath — whose 17-year-old son, Jordan Davis, was fatally shot after playing loud music in his car in 2012 — said Mrs. Clinton “isn’t afraid to say black lives matter, ” a phrase that Mr. Trump and other Republicans have derided by saying that all lives matter. But Ms. McBath also said Mrs. Clinton knew that Americans needed to come together to keep children safe. “They mean well, and they speak well, but none of them are as good as you are,” Mr. Clinton told her about their political generation. “She said: ‘Are you out of your mind? Nobody would ever vote for me.’ ”
“We’re going to keep building a future where police officers and communities of color work together in mutual respect,” Ms. McBath said. The convention underwent a notable shift as the evening went on: Mr. Sanders was barely mentioned, a deliberate decision by the Clinton campaign officials who organized the lineup of speakers. Advisers said that, with Mrs. Clinton now the nominee, they wanted to focus on her character and political record, and on taking the fight to Mr. Trump, rather than continuing to nod to Mr. Sanders and his primary fight.
Convention organizers, apparently seeking a balance with the mothers, invited the Pittsburgh police chief, Cameron McLay, to speak earlier in the evening. But as Mr. McLay spoke of fallen officers and made the case for a criminal justice overhaul, many in the hall carried on their conversations. The crowd was subdued for much of the evening, but in the most searing part, nine African-American mothers whose children were killed by gun violence or in encounters with the police took the stage to chants of “Black lives matter.” The women, who have been campaigning for Mrs. Clinton for months, described how she had sat with them privately to hear their stories and worked with them to promote gun-control measures.
Democrats used Tuesday to appeal to some of their traditional constituencies — African-Americans and supporters of abortion rights, for example — but they also highlighted Mrs. Clinton’s faith. A video was played in which she asked for a prayer and then joined a prayer circle, and an image on one of the screens for part of the evening showed a group of people laying hands on her. One of the mothers, Lucia McBath — whose 17-year-old son, Jordan Davis, was fatally shot after playing loud music in his car in 2012 — said Mrs. Clinton “isn’t afraid to say black lives matter,” a phrase Mr. Trump and other Republicans have derided by saying that all lives matter. But Ms. McBath also said Mrs. Clinton knew that Americans needed to come together to keep children safe.
It was a striking, and surely not accidental, contrast to the Republican convention last week, in which the party’s appeals to the faithful were somewhat muted and Mr. Trump scarcely mentioned faith in his acceptance speech. “We’re going to keep building a future where police officers and communities of color work together in mutual respect,” she said.
Several New Yorkers scarred by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks also described Mrs. Clinton as devoted to helping survivors and first responders in the years after. Representative Joseph Crowley called Mrs. Clinton “the doer of deeds” and ripped Mr. Trump for collecting $150,000 in federal funds intended to help small businesses after the attacks. Convention organizers, apparently seeking a balance with the mothers, invited the Pittsburgh police chief, Cameron McLay, to speak earlier in the evening. But as Chief McLay spoke of fallen officers and called for a criminal justice overhaul, many in the hall carried on their conversations.
The hosannas for Mrs. Clinton were in marked contrast to the steady stream of boos that rained down at the mention of her name on Monday night. Still, the party’s divisions continued to be in plain sight. Democrats used Tuesday to appeal to some of their traditional constituencies, but they also highlighted Mrs. Clinton’s faith. A video was played in which she asked for a prayer and then joined a prayer circle, and an image on one of the screens for part of the evening showed a group of people laying hands on her.
It was a striking, and surely not accidental, contrast to the Republican convention last week, in which appeals to the faithful were somewhat muted and Mr. Trump scarcely mentioned faith in his acceptance speech.
The hosannas for Mrs. Clinton were in marked contrast to the steady stream of boos that rained down at the mention of her name on Monday. Still, the party’s divisions remained in plain sight.
Many states announced that they had split their delegates by having representatives of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Sanders speak separately. And it was clear that some Sanders supporters were not ready to give up. Tim Vandeveer, the chairman of the Hawaii Democratic Party, announced that Mr. Sanders had won a majority of the state’s delegates, calling him “the leader of our revolution, which shall continue.”Many states announced that they had split their delegates by having representatives of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Sanders speak separately. And it was clear that some Sanders supporters were not ready to give up. Tim Vandeveer, the chairman of the Hawaii Democratic Party, announced that Mr. Sanders had won a majority of the state’s delegates, calling him “the leader of our revolution, which shall continue.”
Some of Mr. Sanders’s most passionate supporters demonstrated over the first two days of the convention that they were unmoved by appeals to unity and cared little about a party many of them are connected to only loosely. Later, as the convention wound down after 11 p.m., black and white images of every previous president flashed on the screen, which finally seemed to crack as a smiling Mrs. Clinton suddenly appeared by video connection.
“They’re not local party officials,” Mr. Sanders acknowledged to reporters on Tuesday. “They are new people, they are young people, they are passionate people.” The hall broke out in applause and shouts of excitement as Mrs. Clinton acknowledged breaking the glass ceiling.
That was evident Tuesday evening in the concourse, where one young woman from California, who declined to give her name, was crying and being consoled by fellow Sanders supporters. “If there are any little girls out there who stayed up late to watch,” she said, “let me just say, I may become the first woman president, but one of you is next.”
“I got pushed by a Hillary delegate,” the woman explained.
Mr. Sanders himself faced boos on Tuesday morning as his restive supporters protested his efforts to persuade them to vote for Mrs. Clinton.
After making the rounds at several breakfast gatherings, Mr. Sanders was met with jeers from members of the California delegation, many of whom gave him a thumbs-down sign. But Mr. Sanders quickly chided them.
“It is easy to boo,” he said. “But it is harder to look your kids in the face who would be living under a Donald Trump presidency.”
Even as resistance persisted, Mr. Sanders expressed optimism that his supporters would eventually come around.
“Democracy is a little bit messy sometimes, especially for young people who work their hearts out,” Mr. Sanders said at a breakfast sponsored by Bloomberg Politics. “They worked against Hillary Clinton, and now we’re saying, ‘We want you on board to support Hillary Clinton.’ ”