If at first you don’t succeed …
There’s nothing to suggest this is a done deal yet. (See update below.) The Clinton camp may decide that it doesn’t want to risk a backlash from the already angry Bernie-or-bust crowd, who might not react all that calmly to having their hearts broken a second time in less than 24 hours by the man they came to cheer in Philadelphia. Alternatively, Sanders could decide that he’s not willing to put a damper on what should be a special—albeit bittersweet—moment for himself and his movement after the delegates he won during the primary are tallied on the convention stage.
Still, while that’s a big gamble (for Clinton) and sacrifice (for Sanders), it stands to reason that they really are putting serious thought into it.
The opening day of the convention was dominated by displays of intra-party discord, and while things settled down somewhat as evening turned to night, Democrats are desperate to avoid a repeat performance on Day 2. Tuesday’s lineup includes the mothers of Sandra Bland, Trayvon Martin, and Eric Garner, along with a keynote from Bill Clinton. If the Bern-iacs get themselves too riled up casting their votes during the evening roll call, it’s easy to imagine that energy spilling over into prime time. Shouting down grieving mothers, it should go without saying, would make for a particularly awkward convention moment. And booing the former president could put him on the defensive (never the best look for Bill), forcing him off script and ruining what has the chance to be one of the more effective speeches of the week.
Bernie, meanwhile, has already proved he’s willing to face down the boo birds if he thinks it will help defeat Donald Trump. By almost any measure, he and those working with him—as opposed to simply in his name—did just about everything they could on Day 1 to quiet the vocal protests in the convention hall. Even before the senator stepped on stage late last night to endorse Clinton, he and his team had been waving the party-unity flag all day. Sanders made the case to his supporters before the festivities got underway, and later sent out a text message to his delegate whips urging them to be respectful during the evening proceedings. His former national spokesman, meanwhile, took to Twitter to downplay the impact the DNC played in the outcome of this year’s primary. And all the while, a number of his most-well-known surrogates—from former NAACP president Ben Jealous to Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley to comedian Sarah Silverman—stood on the convention stage and tried to let the Sanders delegates down easy. (Silverman, though, eventually opted for some tougher love.)
All of that wasn’t enough to completely silence the anti-Clinton crowd, but it no doubt made things significantly better than they would have been if Sanders had remained silent. Having Bernie formally place his rival’s name into nomination Tuesday night after all the votes are counted won’t be some panacea for the party, but it would make for a powerful moment. The question Democrats will have to decide between now and then, though, is whether they think the vocal minority of anti-Clinton delegates in the convention hall will be willing to let them have it.
Update, 1:45 p.m.: NBC News is reporting that the “plan as it stand right now” is that Sanders won’t be the one to nominate Clinton after all. Instead, his home state delegation of Vermont will ask to record their votes last during the evening roll call, at which point they will request that Clinton be named the Democratic nominee by unanimous proclamation. That plan comes with its own risk, though, given that many Sanders delegates are unlikely to be happy with the idea that their votes will effectively be wiped from the convention record if the proclamation motion succeeds. Stay tuned.
Update, 2:57 p.m.: Sounds like Democrats decided to play things safe—though this doesn’t automatically rule out either Sanders or the Vermont delegation requesting that Clinton be named the Democratic nominee by unanimous proclamation at the end of the roll call:
