A stroll through Philly for signs of revolution turns up picnicking activists
Reporting from PHILADELPHIA — The wheels could come off the Democrats’ bandwagon in the next four days, but, on Sunday, this city felt nothing like Cleveland, the site of the Republican National Convention. Cleveland was a city under police occupation; downtown Philadelphia where Democrats have gathered to anoint their nominee for president feels rather serene.
Advised that protesters might be gathering at Rittenhouse Square a few blocks from Philadelphia’s monumental wedding cake of a city hall, I took a stroll to see if I could find signs of revolution. I did find activists. They were eating watermelon. They were lounging in the grass. They were spreading out picnics on blankets in the shade of the trees. They were listening to a young woman play a lime green ukulele. Apparently, the revolution had the afternoon off.
Across the park, there were police — about five or six of them leaning on their bicycles, dressed in shorts, looking a little overweight. In Cleveland, there had been about 2,500 cops drawn from all over the country from as far away as California, Utah and Montana. I asked one of the Philly cops if there are reinforcements from other states here. He told me he was pretty sure any extras were drawn only from nearby jurisdictions. Part of the reason for this is that Philadelphia has four times as many police officers as Cleveland, so they may not need much help.
Another significant difference is that the Republicans attracted what some thought might be a dangerous mix of protesters; not just young lefties and Black Lives Matter activists who were total outsiders at Donald Trump’s big party, but squads of right wing bikers and various white supremacists all of whom were free to display their guns because of Ohio’s “open carry” law. Here, the protesters are not only mostly from the progressive side of the political spectrum, they also happen to be backers of a man who is addressing the delegates and a big national TV audience tonight, Bernie Sanders. They will be taking to the streets, not just to raise alarm about big issues like climate change and police shootings of black men, but possibly also in response to the way their man and their concerns are addressed inside the convention hall.
I wandered on from the pleasant, park-like square over to Broad Street where I encountered three middle-aged women from Virginia finding shade on the steps of the University of the Arts. They were serious Sanders supporters and one held a sign that read, “Do I look like a Millennial to you? Bernie or Bust.”
The woman with the sign was Tara Orlando, a 57-year-old grandmother from Floyd, Va., who told me her son had done three tours in Iraq. She does not want any more wars and is convinced that Hillary Clinton is even more hawkish than Donald Trump. Orlando campaigned for Bernie in nine states, she said, and is now certain the nomination was “totally, completely” stolen from her candidate.
Though she didn’t say “lock her up” like the GOP delegates in Cleveland, Orlando seemed as sure as they were that Clinton is guilty of lies and deception. She said she would not vote for Hillary and is holding out hope that the Democratic super delegates will come to their senses and realize that only Sanders can beat Trump.
Orlando’s companion, Pamela Derk, was also upset about the alleged election fraud in the primary campaign. She also thinks that Bill Clinton may have talked Trump into running, just to give his wife an easier shot at the White House. I said I was a bit skeptical about that. Derk smiled and said, “I’m sort of into conspiracy theories.”
There are plenty of Sanders backers who share the opinions of Derk and Orlando and who have come here hoping to see a miracle happen and their guy get the nomination. This is a year of unlikely political developments, but that one seems about as impossible as they come. The Democratic establishment is firmly in charge of this convention and, despite Clinton’s distinct liabilities, it would take a political earthquake to shift them from the course they are on.
Can an earthquake be generated in the streets of Philadelphia? Almost everything is working against it, including the weather. The heat caused more than a few people to drop out of protest activities on Sunday. Today, the forecast promises 91 degree temperatures, thunder storms and soaking rain. The picnics in the park were, quite literally, moments of calm before the storm.
The revolution may yet come, but probably not in the heat of this summer of discontent.
Follow me at @davidhorsey on Twitter
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