It was a historic day in Philadelphia as Hillary Clinton became the first woman to be named as a Presidential candidate.
In a monumental day for US politics, the Democratic National Convention delegates officially nominated Secretary Hillary Clinton to represent them in November’s election.
The atmosphere in Philadelphia was electric as chants of “Hillary” rang around the Wells Fargo Arena.
Delegates pledged support to Clinton, pushing her well over the 2382 votes needed to become the first women to achieve nomination for the President of the United States.
State representatives gave Clinton resounding endorsements as the roll call was carried out.
Once rival Bernie Sanders was (as expected) gracefully beaten by Clinton, amassing 1894 votes in total.
His supporters didn’t take defeat as well as their idol though, staging a walkout after the results were confirmed. “This is democracy” said the protesters as they left the arena.
They didn’t stop there either, as they stormed the media centre to try and ‘get their voice heard.’ That they certainly did as the media flocked around them and police moved in.
Police then banned access to the media centre, locking out journalists (me included). “Security concerns” was the reason, but it turned out to be less dramatic than it seemed as the protest remained peaceful and dissipated in under two hours.
Sanders supporters staging a sit-in, in the media centre. Media being denied access to the building (1/2) pic.twitter.com/Q6nHseJMb6
— US Election 2016 (@USA_Votes) July 26, 2016
Before the drama, Sanders was present in Philadelphia and was serenaded by his supporters, getting emotional as his brother declared votes for him from the delegates representing Democrats Abroad.
There were some goose bump worthy moments throughout the day as Clinton was nominated amongst countless endorsing speeches from delegates.
Delegates we spoke to described her as an inspiration to women all across the United States.
There was a strange mix of excitement and disappointment in the air as the party continues to be at least partly split in their support of Clinton and Sanders.
There were tears of happiness at the result, but also of sadness as some Sanders supporters left the arena crying.
We did hear about the common enemy though, as Indiana declared their support for Hillary Clinton with a “you’re fired!” jibe at Donald Trump in one of the more amusing parts to the day.
Bill Clinton gave a prime time speech where he tried to further humanise his wife to voters by telling stories of their past and emphasising repeatedly that she’s a “change maker.”
The atmosphere was electric as Bill Clinton gave his speech to the Democratic National Convention.
The speech went down very well with the crowd, a majority of whom are certainly behind their candidate Hillary Clinton.
Only time will tell if the delegates who were part of Sanders “political revolution” will throw their support behind Clinton. A divided party will only breed opportunity for Donald Trump’s Republicans.
Tonight we will see Senator Tim Kaine formally accept the Vice-Presidential nomination. Popular Vice-President Biden will also speak, and we have the small matter of President Obama in the building.
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