Delegate Diary: A Sanders delegate from Clinton country
Dan Johnson seems like he could be the embodiment of how the conflict among supporters of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders played out this week.
Johnson went to the Democratic National Convention this week as a top Bernie Sanders delegate.
He also lives in the congressional district where nominee Hillary Clinton grew up, the Northwest suburban 9th District, which includes Park Ridge.
Johnson says he wasn't one of the delegates booing on the convention floor. He says he's on board with Clinton and thinks the convention has helped humanize the nominee.
"I did not see this warmer, more human side of Hillary that I've sort of been educated on this week," he said.
Johnson, of Wilmette, ran in the 9th District primary to be a delegate for Sanders, but he wasn't elected. Instead, he was later picked to attend the convention as an at-large delegate.
Now that the convention is ending, is it up to high-profile Sanders backers like him to convince others when he gets home?
"I think most of that work is done," Johnson said.
The people still holding out, he said, are people who might not have been involved in Democratic Party primary politics in the first place if not for Sanders. His bringing many of them to the party is a good thing, Johnson said, even if some continue to protest.
"Bernie attracted people that have rejected the Democratic Party as a vehicle for implementing progressive things," Johnson said. "He attracted people who are fundamentally protesters."