1 of 3 | Sen. Bernie Sanders, bottom right, embraces his wife, Jane, as he stands with the Vermont delegation on the floor of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Sanders formally placed Hillary Clinton's name up for nomination by acclamation, a motion that was immediately ratified and cheered by delegates in the hall. Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI |
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PHILADELPHIA, July 26 (UPI) -- After running through all 57 voting states and territories, Sen. Bernie Sanders stepped forward Tuesday to motion that Democrats set aside their delegate counts and move past a divisive primary campaign, nominating by acclamation Hillary Clinton as the party's candidate for president of the United States.
The Democratic National Convention roll call vote Tuesday was unusual in its choreography. Where normally the winning candidate seeks a strategic, symbolic or personally meaningful delegation to put them over the top and other delegations accede to the nominee's wishes, Clinton received the 2,382 votes needed as determined simply by alphabetic order, when South Dakota's delegation took its turn.
Vermont, Sanders' home state, allowed itself to be skipped in the order to vote last. After all the delegates cast votes for their candidate, Sanders motioned to the chair to set aside the delegate totals and enable Clinton to be named the party's nominee by acclamation, the parliamentary equivalent of unanimous consent.
Convention Chairwoman Rep. Marcia Fudge turned to delegates, who roared their approval with a thunderous "yea" -- followed by a much softer, but still audible, "nay" -- and proclaimed the motion carried, ushering in Clinton as the first female nominee for president from a major American political party.
The vote came after competing speeches from Democrats who placed the names of both Clinton and Sanders in nomination for president of the United States.
The hall erupted in cheers for two women who spoke in behalf of each candidate -- Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for Sanders and Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski for Clinton.
Gabbard spoke warmly of Sanders, saying he has led a "movement of love and compassion" and ignited a political revolution.
Hillary Clinton is formally nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate on day two of the Democratic National Convention at the
Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke at the end of the voting to move that Clinton be nominated by acclamation voice vote. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI
"Because this is a movement fueled by love, it can never be stopped or defeated. Now on behalf of millions inspired by aloha, determined to seek a future rooted in love, I am truly honored to nominate Bernie Sanders for president of the United States," he said.
Mikulski, a longtime personal friend of Clinton's, underscored the historic nature of Democrats poised to nominate their first woman candidate. Mikulski herself was the first woman to run and win a Senate seat in her own right and said Clinton's presence as potentially the first female president to break down barriers.
"On behalf of all the women who have broken down barriers for others and with an eye toward the barriers ahead, I proudly place Hillary Clinton's name in nomination to be the next president," she said.
The roll call vote took on considerably more practical significance for Sanders' supporters, who traveled from across the country to celebrate -- and foment -- over their candidate's falling short in his quest to win the nomination.
Clinton said she will officially accept the nomination at the end of day four, Thursday, at the convention. After locking up the nomination, she tweeted, "History," and posted a video of Sanders' motion with the words, "Stronger together."
A subsequent tweet read, "This moment is for every little girl who dreams big."
In Philadelphia this week, ardent Sanders supporters have, at times, defied pleas for party unity at the party convention, occasionally booing mention of Clinton's name and staging large protests outside the Wells Fargo Center.
Hillary Clinton/Twitter
As the roll call vote began, presided over by Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, supporters of both Clinton and Sanders filled the convention hall with cheers as each state read the results of their nominating contests.
There is precedent for a defeated rival stepping in to halt official proceedings during the roll call vote. Clinton herself did that in 2008 when it was New York's turn to cast its votes, moving that voting be stopped and her former opponent, then-Sen. Barack Obama, be made the nominee without opposition.
That moment eight years ago stood as an important one after the historic primary campaign, when Clinton stepped forward and signaled to her die-hard supporters that it was time to unite the party toward victory in the general election.
