Sanders delegates from California protest against the Trans-Pacific Partnership at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. (Photo: Lauren Steiner)
It all started three weeks before the Democratic National Convention (DNC), which I was attending as a Bernie Sanders delegate from California. I started Los Angeles for Bernie in June of 2015, so going to the convention was the culmination of my year-long journey for Sanders. Little did I know that Sanders’ actions would leave a vacuum for me and my fellow delegates to fill.
Like most supporters, I was disappointed to see Sanders endorse Hillary Clinton two weeks before the convention. When rumors started flying about this possibility, I lent my voice to try to stop it with an open letter to him. I knew it was in vain. It became clear that he had stopped fighting for the nomination after the primary in Washington, DC, when it was reported that he was not going to send a planned letter to the superdelegates, making the case that he was more likely to beat Donald Trump. Plus, when he decided to run as a Democrat, he had said he would support the eventual nominee. I just wasn’t expecting it to happen before the actual nomination. How many times had he said that it would be a contested convention?
I steeled myself for their joint appearance in New Hampshire, the state where he so soundly beat Clinton just four months earlier. I watched him give his usual stump speech. However, every point was prefaced with “Hillary believes” or “Hillary understands.” I became increasingly furious. “You know Hillary believes no such thing, Bernie!” I shouted to my TV. “How could you betray your supporters this way?”
After I calmed down, I thought about it from Sanders’ point of view. I had seen him on C-SPAN saying he would like to go back to the Senate and chair the HELP Committee — Health, Education, Labor and…