For Pennsylvania’s delegation to the Democratic National Convention, Wednesday was supposed to start with a breakfast featuring guest speaker Bernie Sanders.
You know, the guy who gave eventual nominee Hillary Clinton a run for her primary-season money and inspired many delegate-supporters to march out of the Wells Fargo Center early Tuesday night..
But, it was not to be.
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According to Brandon Cwalina, deputy press secretary for the state Democratic Party, they received a call late Tuesday night from the Sanders camp citing a “last-minute scheduling conflict.” Considering 82 of Pennsylvania’s 208 delegates fell into the Sanders camp, it was a noticeable absence.
In Sanders’ stead, actor/activist Danny Glover was booked for the slot. And guess what? Glover never showed, either.
"I don't know what happened. He never made it," said Chairman Marcel L. Groen of Glover's absence. "We don't take it personally. He probably had a lot of things on his schedule."
For delegates at the Doubletree by Hilton’s Ormandy Ballroom just after 8 a.m., the news about Sanders was disappointing, but understandable.
“I’m sure he had somewhere important to be,” said Greg Schaffer of Pittsburgh as he loaded a breakfast plate at the buffet. “I’m bummed” but it’s not the end of the world.
Randy Shannon of Beaver County concurred.
“It would have been nice to hear him, but I’ve been listening to his words for two years,” Shannon said. “I know where he’s coming from and agree with where he’s at on the issues.”
Instead of ruing the missed opportunity to hear Sanders speak again, he noted that, “Right now, it’s all about going home and continuing the work [that Bernie’s campaign inspired].”
The delegation did hear from state attorney general candidate Josh Shapiro and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), as well as City Councilwomen Blondell Reynolds Brown and Cindy Bass, and former Councilwoman Marian Tasco.
Klobuchar vowed to keep her speech “70 minutes shorter than Donald Trump’s last week” and called U.S. Sen. Bob Casey “her best friend in Congress” before hitting laugh lines about how mood rings don’t change colors when on his fingers.
She got a rousing round of applause for giving Sanders a shout-out for pushing Clinton over the nomination brink on Tuesday night, and wrote off any concerns about those supporters supporting Trump in November.
For his part, Shapiro – who spoke about adjusting law-enforcement approaches to addiction-related ills – started his remarks with comments about the speaker who wasn’t in the room.
“I really want to applaud Sen. Sanders for his remarks, and the manner he carried himself on the floor of the convention last night,” he said. “And thank you to all the Sanders supporters who’ve strengthened our party, and helped lead to a platform that fights for all Pennsylvanians and for all Americans.”
Groen lauded the “unity we’ve shown compared to other delegations,” and announced that he had tickets available for Thursday’s “Camden Rising” concert.