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Bernie Sanders Stops By Mass. Delegation Breakfast

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Sen. Bernie Sanders waves Tuesday evening from the floor of the DNC before asking delegates to accept Hillary Clinton's nomination unanimously and by acclimation. (Matt Rourke/AP)
Sen. Bernie Sanders waves Tuesday evening from the floor of the DNC before asking delegates to accept Hillary Clinton's nomination unanimously and by acclimation. (Matt Rourke/AP)

The Massachusetts delegation, like several other delegations at the Democratic National Convention, received a surprise visitor Wednesday morning: Bernie Sanders stopped by during breakfast to lobby his supporters to get behind Hillary Clinton.

"Trump is a demagogue," Sanders said. "We all have Republican friends, and we've disagreed with them, but most of them happen to believe in the Constitution of the United States of America. Trump does not, and that's not Bernie Sanders' view, that is the view of many Republicans."

Sanders pointed out that in the primaries, he won young voters, a clear warning to delegates that the Democratic Party must work to retain those voters as Hillary Clinton faces Donald Trump in November. And he said starting today, his campaign becomes a campaign to draw more young people into politics.

In his 12-minute address, Sanders promised that electing Clinton is only the beginning.

"So it goes without saying that in the next several months, until November 8, we have got to do everything we can to defeat Trump and elect Hillary," Sanders said. "But the important point that I want to make to you is that in my view, our efforts do not cease on November 8. We continue going on November 9."

Sanders says he leaves his presidential run full of optimism. But some of his delegates still won't say if they're going to support Clinton.

Roberta Flashman, a Sanders delegate from Ashby, says she will vote for Clinton — but working to get her elected is another thing.

"I have limited time and energy and I choose where I will put my work and who I will support," Flashman said. "My support will go to progressive candidates."

For the Sanders delegates, it's important for Democrats to retake the Senate in November if the progressive agenda is to move forward. Julie Pinkham, a Sanders delegate from Quincy, says Sanders will help Clinton get elected.

"Hillary now has moved on the agenda more than she ever was before on those issues, so we'll fight for the issues and in doing so I think Hillary will ride that wave to the president," Pinkham said. "But again there's a lot of other people that better be on those issues, because we need the Senate too or Hillary's not getting those issues done. That platform will not move if it can't get done in the Senate."

Clinton delegates would like the Sanders delegates to campaign actively for the party's nominee. Superdelegate Jim Roosevelt, co-chair of the rules committee, praised Sanders' efforts to get his supporters behind Clinton.

"I thought his message this morning was so, so effective, that it's important that his supporters not just vote for Hillary Clinton but get active in the campaign to defeat the danger that Donald Trump is," he said.

Getting active in the Clinton campaign may still be a bit too much to expect from some of the Sanders delegates, but in the Massachusetts delegation, many are now ready to vote for her.

This segment aired on July 27, 2016.

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Fred Thys Reporter
Fred Thys reported on politics and higher education for WBUR.

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