Democrats approved a draft of the party platform early yesterday that includes steps to break up large Wall Street banks, advocates for a US$15 an hour wage and urges the abolition of the death penalty, reflecting the influence of US Senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign.
Supporters of presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton defeated measures pushed by Sanders’ allies that would have promoted a Medicare-for-all single-payer healthcare system, a carbon tax to address climate change and a moratorium on hydraulic fracking.
Sanders on Friday said he would vote for Clinton, but has so far declined to offer a full-throated endorsement of her campaign or encourage his millions of voters to back her candidacy. The Vermont senator has said he wants the platform at the summer convention to reflect his goals — and those representing him at a St Louis hotel said they had made progress.
“We lost some, but we won some,” said James Zogby, a Sanders supporter on the panel. “We got some great stuff in the platform that has never been in there before.”
“We’ve made some substantial moves forward,” added US representative Keith Ellison, a Sanders ally.
The convention’s full Platform Committee will consider the draft platform in Orlando, Florida, next month and it will be voted on at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia late next month.
The platform is a statement of the party’s values and positions on a wide range of issues. While it does not bind the Democratic nominee to specific policies, it serves as a guidepost for the party moving forward.
In many cases, Clinton’s side gave ground to Sanders. The document calls for the expansion of Social Security and says Americans should earn at least US$15 an hour, referring to the current minimum wage of US$7.25 an hour as a “starvation wage,” a term often used by Sanders.
The committee also adopted language that said it supports a variety of ways to prevent banks from gambling with taxpayers’ bank deposits.
It also approved language calling for the abolition of the death penalty.
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