He says the party is united, despite a contentious primary season.
Philadelphia, Pa. (KM) It was a contentious primary season for the Democrats, but they’re united at their convention and are ready to go out and elect Hillary Clinton as President. That’s according to Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md), whose in Philadelphia attending the convention.
“We made history in nominating the first woman of a major party to run for President of the United States. Those of use who know Hillary Clinton, we’re so proud. We know her qualifications and her record for getting things done. So it’s been a lot of excitement,” says Cardin.
The Democratic Convention had a rough start on Monday when e-mails were released by Wikileaks, which said that the party establishment favored Clinton over her rival, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
But Cardin says that’s all behind us now, and Sanders is on board supporting Clinton. He calls the Vermont Senator a man of strong principals. “He recognizes that in this election cycle, the very best person in order to move the agenda forward is Hillary Clinton. I think he’s made that very clear to his supporters and I think his supporters will support Secretary Clinton,” he says. “I think our challenge is going to be how do we make sure that message gets beyond just the Democrats and gets the independent voters. And I think Bernie Sanders can be helpful to us in achieving that result.”
Sanders put a motion on the floor of the convention on Tuesday night calling for a suspension of the rules of procedure and asked that Clinton be nominated by acclamation.
Senator Cardin says convention delegates heard from former President Bill Clinton on Tuesday night, the husband of candidate Hillary Clinton. He says Bill Clinton presented a different side of his wife. “We know her record as First Lady, and United States Senator and her record as Secretary of State. But Bill Clinton, I think, shared a great deal more about Hillary Clinton as a mother, as a spouse, as person whose devoted her life to helping children and civil rights,” he said.
Hillary Clinton will close out the Democratic Convention on Thursday with her acceptance speech.