Theodore L. Bosen: Bernie has come a long way from an independent Senator

To the editor:

Don't look now but Bernie Sanders, in a master stroke at the Democratic Convention, actually pulled off a political takeover of the Democratic Party. He parlayed the support of his minions in a grand bargain in order to extract monumental concessions to fashion a progressive platform like none other in the history of the party, including dramatic and firm positions on climate action, equal rights, gender equality, pay equity, a living wage, voting rights, trade policy, consumer protection, banking regulation, social security and Medicare expansion, public-option health insurance, student debt reform, tuition-free college, accessible veterans benefits, international human rights, torture prohibition, and online privacy. His endorsement of Hillary and his convention speech served to reiterate this litany of platform positions that she agreed to adopt to put her and all Democrats on record as on board with all of it. He even had her standing behind him during the endorsement speech nodding her head to each one of these in a public confirmation of her commitment. He then moved to suspend the roll call process to nominate Hillary, but avoided “nomination by acclamation” by insisting that all delegate votes be made a matter of record, thus certifying the actual dimensions of the the party now controlled by the progressive movement. He then met with his delegates to announce that his campaign would continue as a vehicle to get Democrats who adopted those positions elected at all levels of government and encouraged those of us who are part of the movement he began to run. Now, by definition, a candidate who attempts to run on anything less is illegitimate and not a true Democrat. Moreover, if Hillary fails to toe the line on this platform she has committed to run on, she, not Bernie, becomes the party outsider. The Bernie revolution is now mainstream Democratic politics and any Democratic candidate who rejects the new platform risks losing the official endorsement and support of the party. By 2018, progressive Democrats will be the norm on every ballot. In one year, with the help of the movement he inspired, Bernie Sanders has come all the way from an independent Senator from a small New England State to the de facto political leader of the Democratic Party. And without New Hampshire, none of this would have been possible!