Democrat delegates: Expect some Clinton-Sanders tension

Indiana delegates to the Democratic National Convention say not to expect the same kind of drama Republicans saw at their convention, but tensions could flare up between supporters of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders at this week’s gathering.

Symbolic of that tension is Dean Boerste’s inbox. As a superdelegate supporting Clinton, Boerste is continuing to receive emails from Sanders supporters trying to get him to change his mind — even after Sanders' endorsement of Clinton.

One woman told him she would vote for Republican Donald Trump if he didn’t support Sanders.

“She caught me off guard,” said Boerste, of Evansville. He wrote her back: “you do what you have to do.”

Ahead of the convention that kicks off Monday in Philadelphia, he’s remaining optimistic that the Democrat convention will go smoothly.

This past week in Cleveland, the Republican convention was first overshadowed by accusations of plagiarism against Melania Trump's speechwriter, and then by the booing of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz for refusing to endorse Trump during his prime-time speech.

Now, the political world’s attention turns to the Democrats, who will try at their convention to show that the party is unified — or at least more unified than the GOP. Helping that narrative is Sanders' endorsement of Clinton and the Vermont senator scoring some victories in the party’s revised platform.

Despite those gains, Sanders supporters still are anticipated to flock to Philadelphia to protest, contributing to the 35,000 to 50,000 demonstrators expected each day. And Republicans see that as being just as dramatic.

"The Democrats have a tremendous amount of turmoil," said Kyle Babcock, who served as an Indiana delegate to the Republican National Convention. He said it would be "very hard" to get Sanders supporters on board with Clinton.

But one Sanders supporter has already made the shift.

Krishna Pathak, a delegate from Indianapolis, said he is a Sanders supporter but will vote in November for Clinton, the party’s presumptive nominee. Originally he was a part of the “Bernie or Bust” movement — think of it as the Democrats’ version of “Never Trump” only in favor of a candidate. But he now thinks it’s destructive to the party and serves to help Trump who is trying to appeal to disaffected blue-collar workers in the same way as Sanders did.

If the November election is a choice between the “lesser of the two evils,” then Clinton wins out for him, Pathak said.

“It is way better than Trump, right?” he said.

Democrats are coming together, said Annette Gross, a delegate from Carmel who supports Clinton.

“One good thing Bernie has done is kind of push Hillary a little more to the left,” Gross said, “and it seems like she’s picking up on some of his ideas.”

Sanders has described the platform that details the party’s core beliefs and goals as a “significant coming together.” Through negotiations, it now reflects support for a $15-an-hour minimum wage and free college for working-class families, among other Sanders' priorities. The platform will go to delegates for a vote at the convention.

Still, a lot of people remain unhappy, said Elizabeth Hyde, a delegate from Indianapolis who campaigned for Sanders.

“I’m really hoping that everyone will be civil, and everyone will get to have their voices heard,” Hyde said.

In the fall, Hyde said she remains up-in-the air on how she’ll handle her ballot. If the race in Indiana is close, she plans to vote for Clinton to help her win the state. But if it’s not, she might leave her ballot blank.

“If she doesn’t need my vote for Indiana, I’m not sure that I would necessarily feel comfortable voting for her,” Hyde said.

Sanders is expected to address the convention on Monday, with Clinton rounding out the event with a Thursday speech. Also speaking are former President Bill Clinton, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

Sanders won the popular vote in Indiana’s primary, but Clinton also walked away with support because delegates are awarded proportionally based on election results. According to the state party, Sanders earned 44 pledged delegates to Clinton’s 39, but Clinton has support from a bulk of the state’s nine superdelegates who aren’t bound to any candidate.

At the state party convention in June, delegates debated over whether to read in full resolutions that had been rejected by the party’s resolutions committee earlier in the day. Some Sanders supporters wanted those resolutions to be read, but ultimately delegates voted only to read the titles.

One involved superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention. Sanders has criticized the role of superdelegates in the party’s presidential nominating process as being unfair.

As for Boerste, who is a longtime convention attendee, he wants Sanders supporters to argue their points. He said “that’s part of the Democratic process.”

“When it’s all said and done,” he said. “It will be unified.”

IndyStar reporter Tony Cook and USA TODAY contributed to this story.

Call IndyStar reporter Chelsea Schneider at (317) 444-6077. Follow her on Twitter: @IndyStarChelsea.