PHILADELPHIA — With Hillary Clinton about to be crowned as the Democratic candidate for president, the attention will then return to the platform that she will run on in her battle against Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Jacqueline Silver of Philadelphia is a platform delegate, having served on the Democratic Platform Committee. She said the 187-member committee finalized the platform during a marathon weekend session in Orlando, Florida, July 8-10.
“It was overwhelming,” Silver said as she picked at her breakfast at Tuesday morning’s meeting of the Pennsylvania Delegation. “We worked long hours to finalize the platform.”
Silver said the first day of the two-day meeting began at 11 a.m. and ended at 2:40 a.m. the next day. She said the second day began at 8 a.m. and ended at 1 a.m. the following day.
When Clinton takes center stage Thursday night to deliver her acceptance speech, supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will be anxiously waiting to hear if the Democratic nominee will sincerely support many of the issues Sanders brought to the table.
Even after Sanders addressed the convention Monday night, many of his supporters were unsure how they will vote in November. They want to hear Clinton sincerely talk about bringing jobs home from overseas and trashing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, addressing greed on Wall Street, making college affordable and raising the minimum wage.
Sanders’ delegates across the country are hesitant to come out for Clinton. Some have said they will look to the Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
John Fetterman, mayor of Braddock, Pa. and former candidate for the U.S.Senate, said all Democrats need to support Clinton.
“I tell that to everyone I see,” Fetterman said Tuesday. “Hillary Clinton is an outstanding candidate and she needs and deserves everyone’s support.”
Fetterman said he didn’t want to see the Democratic Party burn itself down.
“No pun intended there,” Fetterman said, a reference to the Sanders’ campaign slogan of “Bern baby Bern.”
Fetterman said supporting Clinton is the right thing to do “as a Democrat, as a Progressive and as a patriot.”
Fetterman said the main objective for Democrats has to be to defeat Trump.
“If Bernie Sanders won the nomination, we all would be supporting him,” he said.
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, said Sanders showed true leadership Monday night in his impassioned address on the convention floor.
“Bernie Sanders did an absolutely great job for our party and for this campaign,” Casey said Tuesday. “If we all do our jobs, Hillary Clinton is going to win and Katie McGinty is going to win.”
McGinty is running for the Senate seat currently held by Republican Pat Toomey. McGinty is schedule to address the convention Thursday evening.
Casey said the election will be won on two issues — economic security and national security.
“Those two issues will determine who the next president will be,” Casey said.
Casey also thanked organized labor for its support of the Democratic Party.
“If not for the men and women of organized labor, we would not have a Democratic Party,” Casey said.
Raising wages in America is a priority, Casey said, noting that over the last 40 years, wages have increased by just 9 percent.