Day one of the Democratic National Convention started with boos from Bernie Sanders supporters every time Hillary Clinton's name was mentioned.
By the end of the evening - after speeches by Sanders' supporter Sarah Silverman, Senator Cory Booker, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Michelle Obama and Sanders, himself - the boos had been quieted and had been replaced by ear splitting cheers.
But there will be a roll call vote Tuesday, and Sanders delegates will be able to put his name and their vote into the record.
Former state asssemblywoman and Congressional candidate Lucy Flores says that's important for Sanders supporters to heal. She is one of those supporters.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS:
What did you make of all the booing?
There’s a lot of frustration amongst everyone. People are just frustrated in general. That’s what’s making this election so unique, frankly from any other election we’ve had in recent history. That is being vocalized here.
Look this is democracy. Sometimes it’s not polite and quiet. While I certainly do not encourage people booing, et cetera, I think we have to acknowledge that they deserve a space to voice those concerns -- to voice their frustrations.
Are you worried about the optics of progressives booing Civil Rights leader and Congressman Elijah Cummings?
Sure! Absolutely! You never want to have optics like that, especially when I think the most important thing for Democrats – I certainly agree with this – we have to ensure that we keep our eye on goal and that’s making sure that Donald Trump does not become the president of this country.
Of course, you want to show as much unity as possible, but at the end of the day, we can’t pretend that we don’t have problems. That we don’t have this massive Wikileak thing looming. That our national chair didn’t just step down because of it.
We have to heal and the only way we can do that is by acknowledging that there are issues, acknowledging that there are different opinions, addressing that and then trying to move forward in the best way that we can.
If we’re constantly worrying about ‘optics’ or the way things look, we’re never actually going to get to the issues, the real issues that exist. And then get to what we are all here for, which is fighting for our communities and making sure that Donald Trump gets nowhere near the White House.
How do you think this roll call vote is going to go?
I think the roll call is important because Sanders’ delegates came here for a reason. They all worked very hard, myself included. I am casting my vote today for Bernie Sanders. And the reason why is because people worked really hard all year long. They came here in order to support their presidential preference. Once they do that, Hillary Clinton is going to win the nomination of the Democratic Party and then we can move forward from there.
I think it is another important point for Democrats and Secretary Clinton to recognize that not 100 percent of people are going to just come on over. That votes have to be earned. Trust has to be earned and restored.
How will former President Bill Clinton be treated when he speaks?
If last night was any indication, he might not be met with all of their approval.
We have to stop expecting people to get in line and behave. Give them their space. Leave it up to their candidates. Leave it up to their spouses and their surrogates and the party to really make the case that people should come on over and support Hillary Clinton.
I think that that’s important. We can’t just constantly be assuming that people are just going to fall in line. I think that’s what ultimately ends up turning so many people off. That they feel that their support is expected.
Do you think that Sen. Warren and Sen. Sanders and Michelle Obama made that case last night?
I do. I was very pleased with the tone and the tenor and the comments that were made. But again, I recognize that not everybody was. We just have to keep focusing on the issues. I think the difference between our convention – even if there was booing – and the Republican convention was so incredibly stark.
We talked about issues. We talked about solutions to those issues. It was very hopeful. It was very energetic. It was very positive. Frankly, it was the antithesis of what the Republican convention was.
Are there going to be some disturbances and disruptions? Absolutely! But that’s what democracy is about.
Former state asssemblywoman and Congressional candidate Lucy Flores
