Porter and Winfield Monday.
Philadelphia—Standing to the side in a long hallway at the Philadelphia Convention Center early Monday afternoon, New Haven State Rep. Robyn Porter and State Sen. Gary Winfield said they had a message for the thousands of Bernie Sanders supporters who had descended on Philadelphia to protest the Democratic National Convention and Hillary Clinton’s presidential nomination: Stop Berning or Busting. Stop Hill no-ing. Bernie Sanders’ message, still potent, may live on, but it is time (and perhaps, well past time) to get on the Hillary train.
That conversation came into the open after Sanders attempted to rally the troops on Monday, many failing to get on board with his message.
Lucy Gellman Photo
While irate Bernie Sanders supporters, including several delegates, had ventured out of the center and into the midday heat to weave alongside a 51-foot spliff on and urge their colleagues not to vote for presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton in November, Porter and Winfield took a different approach.
As they were lining up to get into the convention center’s Grand Ballroom, Berner YahNé Ndgo, was proclaiming that “America will become a plutocracy.” just down the street, where she stood outside of City Hall.
Around her, protesters echoed the sentiment. “This is our last chance at a democracy,” said Nina Subramanian, a Sanders delegate from Buffalo who was concerned about Clinton’s stance on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Around her, several cries of “Hill No!” and some particularly ripe conspiracy theories — did you know Clinton had strong-armed Sanders into endorsing her by threatening him and his family? — flitted through the crowd.
But Porter and Winfield, both delegates, took a more conciliatory tone when they caught up with the Independent, and talked about the speech with Bridgeport-based delegate and New Haven community organizer Ashli D. Giles-Perkins.
“There were people in there with signs that said ‘Not Hillary, Not Trump,’ and I turned around and I said to one of the guys: ‘Then who?’” Porter said, adjusting a robin hood cap that she had picked up from a nearby table. “We only have Hillary and Trump. Bernie’s not in it anymore. We rode with him until he fell off the wagon. Now it’s time to move on as a party. We’re Democrats. We vote for Hillary. Simple.”
“It’s not just about Hillary versus Trump,” said Winfield. “It’s about all of those people in Congress. We want to make sure we have at least 100 people [with the same progressive ideas] running in the near future. You can be upset about what happened, but this is politics. When these things happen, what do you do? How do you respond? The best response, if you really believe what people have been saying, is to keep doing the work. To make sure that there’s not one Bernie, but there’s 10 Bernies, 20 Bernies.
“I think that’s really the message. The movement can never be about Bernie Sanders It can never be about any of us.”