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Bernie Or Bust: Democrats Afraid Bernie Sanders’ Revolution Could Change The Convention

By Shaunee Flowers
Published on: 13:38 PST, Jul 3, 2016

Bernie Sanders has not conceded in his bid for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 presidential race and the “Bernie or Bust” movement continues to grow. With the Democratic National Convention coming up later this month, this makes many politicians, including his opponent Hillary Clinton, nervous about what might happen when his supporters descend upon Philadelphia to show support for Sanders as the Democratic delegates vote for which candidate they want to move forward in the race against Donald Trump.

According to NBC, there are five major Bernie Sanders rallies planned in Philadelphia during the Democratic National Convention, and permits have already been approved. The estimated attendance for those rallies alone stands at around 38,000 people. However, many who are involved in the “Bernie or Bust” movement estimate that Bernie Sanders’ supporters will be flocking to Philadelphia in the hundreds of thousands to let Democrats know that they are unhappy with the way the Democratic primaries were handled throughout the United States.

The Democratic National Convention runs July 25-28 in Philadelphia. Two of the five marches in Philadelphia that have been approved so far are planned for July 24, the day before the convention. While current estimates for the size of each march are coming in at about 7,000 people, “Bernie or Bust” supporters believe the numbers will actually be much higher.

What is the point of so many Bernie Sanders supporters filling up Philadelphia during the convention? Many believe that the Democratic primaries were full of election fraud and have been very vocal about it. There have been many cases where voters have complained about voter suppression during this election year, with accusations that voting machines may have been altered, and exit polls that would show fraud in any other country.

One thing that the “Bernie or Bust” crowd believe will be impossible to ignore would be hundreds of thousands of Bernie Sanders supporters descending on the city before and during the Democratic National Convention to show those involved in the nominating process that not only does Sanders have the votes, but also that those voters won’t be embracing any old candidate as many seem to believe.

While some believe that the large influx of Bernie Sanders supporters may cause trouble outside of the convention, others are worried that a rally of this proportion may cause even more trouble inside. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who is supposed to remain neutral as the Democratic National Committee chairwoman, has been one of the most vocal against the “Bernie or Bust” movement and their plans to take over Philadelphia.

On the other hand, Nina Turner has been supportive of Bernie Sanders and his growing group of supporters. Turner has spoken out about how Sanders’ supporters believe that the entire Democratic primary process has been rigged and now those who have been suppressed during the rigging are standing up to do something about it.

“I don’t think that this is necessarily one little incident,” Turner said. “This has more to do with the feeling among many of Senator Sanders supporters in Nevada and beyond that the entire establishment, the entire system, is rigged against Senator Sanders.”

Currently, Bernie Sanders is campaigning to help his delegates fund their trips to the Democratic National Convention. There are roughly 1,900 delegates supporting Sanders expected to make their way to Philadelphia for the convention, in addition to the scores more who plan to stay outside of the convention hall and cheer them all on. They hope that the superdelegates, whose votes have not officially been cast yet, will get behind Bernie Sanders when they see just how much support he really has. Many of those involved in the “Bernie or Bust” movement believe that Bernie will end up with the nomination by the time the Democratic National Convention is over.

[Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images]

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