Democrats Angling to Have Sanders Nominate Clinton Tuesday Night
Campaigns reportedly in talks
Democratic operatives are looking to overcome Monday’s rocky start by having onetime presidential challenger Sen. Bernie Sanders formally nominate rival Hillary Clinton as part of Tuesday’s planned roll call vote.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, retiring Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski of Maryland, civil rights icon and Georgia Democrat John Lewis, and Hillary for America contest winner Na’ilah Amaru are all currently scheduled to nominate Clinton as the first female presidential nominee put forth by a major political party.
According to media reports, both the Clinton and Sanders camps are working behind the scenes to present a more unified party on stage.
NBC News has learned negotiations are underway to have Bernie Sanders officially nominate Hillary Clinton at the end of tonight’s roll call.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 26, 2016
A very vocal group of conventioneers spent most of Monday jeering any time Clinton’s name was mentioned on stage.
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Sanders Gets Booed Again as He Throws Weigh Behind Clinton
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Sanders himself came under fire each time he pushed for the two side to finally come together.
If Sanders decides to put Clinton’s name in for the nomination, “that sends a message to his supporters that we’re unifying and I think that will affect many of the pledged delegates that are there for Bernie at the convention,” Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva said Tuesday on CNN.
“At the end of the day in November, the vast, vast majority of Bernie voters are going to vote for Hillary,” he added. “But the people that are Bernie or bust, or just can’t bring themselves across to vote for Hillary – that percentage, however small it might be or not, it’s going to be difficult to turn them around.”
Lindsey McPherson contributed to this report.