The first night of the Democratic National Convention was a strong display of unity!
Some wondered if the party would pull this off. Questions of whether or not Democrats would unite were swirling in the media throughout the day. It all started with DWS having the gavel torn from her hands, followed by an afternoon where hecklers were disruptive. But it appears that the story of hecklers and disunity was completely overblown by the corporate media.
Nate Silver was on site and reported that only a very small percentage of Bernie delegates were booing:
Here's a longer reflection on mood of the convention tonight. Charged but not the negative vibes others reported.
But contrary to those earlier reports, there wasn’t a lot of booing when Clinton’s name was mentioned. Certainly, there were some boos coming from some delegations, some of the time — California and Michigan, in particular, and were relatively vocal. But this was in isolated pockets. The booers were usually drowned out by cheers for Clinton, sometimes enthusiastic cheers, especially if the speaker was keeping people engaged. The California delegation is located right next to where a lot of the major networks have their sets, I should point out, which is inconvenient for Clinton.
There are also more specific demonstrations of one kind or another: lots of anti-TPP signs, a few Palestinian flags, and forth. Democratic activists are an eclectic bunch, with perhaps a wider diversity of causes and interests than Republican ones, and less reverence for authority, and that was reflected on the floor.
What a stark difference between the Republican and Democratic conventions.
Love Trumps Hate!