The Democratic National Convention introduced us to the party’s candidate this week. This was some feat, as the candidate has been in the public eye for more than two decades.
Did we learn anything we didn’t know about Hillary Clinton?
Did Barack Obama successfully bring both Bernie Sanders supporters and moderate Republicans into the fold? And did Hillary keep them with her speech last night?
Back to answer those questions, and more, is former state Assemblywoman and Congressional candidate Lucy Flores.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
The Democratic National Convention introduced us to the party’s candidate this week. This was some feat, as the candidate has been in the public eye for more than two decades.
Did we learn anything we didn’t know about Hillary Clinton?
Did Barack Obama successfully bring both Bernie Sanders supporters and moderate Republicans into the fold? And did Hillary keep them with her speech last night?
Back to answer those questions, and more, is former state Assemblywoman and Congressional candidate Lucy Flores.
What did you think of Hillary Clinton’s speech?
I thought it was fantastic. As a Bernie supporter and as an official Bernie surrogate which is what I was doing all week here. We have to acknowledge that her speech included much of what Bernie supporters were asking for, much of what we’ve been fighting for. We’ve already said that so much of what we were fighting for as far as progressive agenda was also included in the Democratic platform.
We are never going to get 100 percent of what we want but we certainly got a whole lot. I think that that was certainly reflected in her speech. First and foremost, it is such a stark contrast between the Republican convention – their message – and the Democrats convention and message.
On what the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton need to do to secure Bernie Sanders supporters going forward:
Yes there were protests. There will continue to be protests. I think that that is something the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton need to be very aware of, very concerned about. And something they’re going to have to be working on, especially in states where Bernie Sanders won that are considered swing states like Colorado.
There is definitely work to be done and as long as they’re aware of that and make an actual effort to bridge those gaps. I think we have good chance of making sure that Donald Trump is not elected in November.
There was an emphasis on who she was in her early years. Did you learn anything you didn’t know before?
No. Not really. It was an effort to humanize her. They’re going to continue to do that. Because that is important. People respond to personality. People want to know who are as a person. We all know that she has trust issues. That people don’t think that she’s genuine and that’s something they’re going to have to continue to work on.
Did you think this convention was too centrist?
It included a lot of what Bernie Sanders and…what his supporters were fighting for and that is not a centrist agenda. I think part of the argument we’ve been making is that Americans are tired of centrist. We have problems. We have the biggest poverty inequality. We have a stagnation of the middle class. We have legitimate issues that people are very frustrated by. Economic issues, social justice issues and people are tired of centrist.
Kaufman: She addressed those for you last night.
Flores: Not 100 percent but absolutely. She is running on a progressive platform. That is the argument she used in order to win the primary and how she is going into the general.
Democrats just nominated the first woman ever to be a nominee for president of a major party. What did the hall feel like?
It was electric. It was just a massive amount of energy. It was exciting. It was historic. Whether you are with her or not… you have acknowledge the historical significance of it. It was an amazing night. I’m very, very proud of the Democratic Party and what we’ve managed to achieve.
How did you feel?
I very much had my heart set on having the most progressive candidate be president that – for me – was Bernie Sanders. I was not as excited but I recognize the historical significance of it.
I’m not going to lie… I was sad. I was still sad. I think there were a lot of people who were still just getting over the fact that our candidate did not make it. But for what’s important for me and what does make me excited is that we have someone who is capable. Someone who is going to push the issues that I fought very hard for, at least most of them. And that we’re going to make sure that we do not have Donald Trump in the White House. That makes me excited.
Were there any issues that were missed this week?
I would have loved to have seen more emphasis on social justice issues. Even in her speech, I was a little disappointed that she spent a fair amount of time talking about the Dallas police officers, which of course was appropriate, but didn’t really talk about Black Lives Matter or some of the social justice issues that have really come to the forefront and really should be at the forefront.
She made the comment… that she’s going to fight for the successful for the not successful, for everyone basically. She’s everyone’s candidate. That goes back to her centrist roots. But there are people who are hurting. A deeper acknowledgment of the economic inequality that exists right now. I think would have spoken to a lot of people and to their frustrations.
Lucy Flores, former assemblywoman and congressional candidate
