SPRINGFIELD — Democratic delegates were fired up on Saturday and so were their elected officials. Inside the packed Springfield Convention Center, delegates looked for leadership and direction, and the speakers delivered. Every speaker, from Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, who cited his immigrant roots, to Senators Markey and Warren and Governor Healey, hammered Trump and then dug in for a fight.
Citing Massachusetts as the birthplace of American democracy, they made it clear that they loved this state and its legacy of fighting to preserve democracy both here and across the nation. Calling out state Republicans as Trump toadies, they made it clear they were looking forward to the fight.
At the convention, speakers highlighted Massachusetts’ top national rankings—calling it the best place to live, with the lowest crime rate, best health care, and top-performing schools. They pledged to restore funding cut under Trump to health care, education, transportation, and more.
Speakers danced, sung, and yelled as they moved on and off the stage and the delegates loved it.
All was not so smooth after the speakers were done. The purpose of the convention was to ratify a new platform. It quickly became clear that one wing of the party wanted to trim the 2021 platform provisions to avoid some of the more controversial provisions. In fact, they wanted to eliminate the very platform convention the delegates were attending and shift the money to organizing.
The other wing of the party not only wanted to keep the platform convention alive they wanted a return to the 2021 platform. After a rush to the podium and a Roberts Rules of Order tutorial by the delegates for the convention management the delegates won. The platform convention and the 2021 platform lives to fight another day.
Classic Democratic convention, messy, loud and a perfect example of American democracy Massachusetts style. Damn, I love this state.
So proud to be from Massachusetts