Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) arrives at a news conference in Washington, on Sept. 13. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg) 
 
 In two weeks, thousands of people will convene in Detroit for the Women’s Convention, the first national convention led by the organizers of the Women’s March. The January march drew millions of participants worldwide in protest of President Trump’s inauguration. 
 
 The event aims to bring together an “unprecedented” number of activists and leaders to share strategies, and build on the momentum from the march, according to its website. The convention theme? “Reclaiming our time.” 
 
 But organizers came under fire Thursday after announcing that a prime speaking slot will go to a man: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). The 2016 Democratic presidential candidate will address the crowd on Oct. 27, the opening day of the three-day event, convention organizers said on social media. 
 
 [Women’s marches: More than one million protesters vow to resist President Trump] 
 
 The announcement immediately drew backlash. Among the critics was Stephanie Schriock, the president of Emily’s List, one of the convention’s sponsors. 
 
 “This choice sends the wrong message,” she tweeted, saying Emily’s List has reached out to the Women’s Convention organizers to “share our disappointment and offer our help.” 
 
 “We have more women leaders in elected office than ever before,” she added. “Women ARE leading in the Senate. This is a moment to highlight them.” 
 
 [Women’s March prepares for its first national convention next month in Detroit] 
 
 Sanders is one of only two men among the more than 60 people scheduled to speak at the convention, organizers said on Twitter. In a statement on Facebook, the senator said he is honored to “join the women at the front lines of our struggle for economic, social, racial and environmental justice.” 
 
 “In January, millions of women came out in an extraordinary and unprecedented display of power and resistance,” Sanders said, referring to the Women’s March. “Now more than ever, we must support the leadership of women across the country and fight together to advance our progressive agenda.” 
 
 A number of women leaders will also deliver remarks at the opening event, organizer Carmen Perez said on Twitter. 
 
 After the outcry over Sanders, organizer Tamika D. Mallory clarified on Twitter that he is not the event’s headliner. That slot is going to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.). 
 
 [Maxine Waters inspires a new anthem: ‘Reclaiming my time’] 
 
 Waters inspired the theme of the weekend. In July, when Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin dodged her question during a House Financial Services Committee hearing, she chided him for wasting her allotted time and repeated the phrase, “reclaiming my time.” The exchange inspired a hashtag and scores of memes. 
 
 The Women’s Convention is led predominantly by women of color, Mallory said on Twitter, who defended the Sanders decision to critics: “We announce one man as a speaker among over 60, and y’all start saying he’s our leader?!” 
 
 MAXINE WATERS IS THE #WOMENSCONVENTION HEADLINER! Y'all may not have noticed but we announced that weeks ago...#ReclaimingOurTime — Tamika D. Mallory (@TamikaDMallory) October 12, 2017 
 
 Organizers said they invited many elected officials to attend the convention, including Hillary Clinton, Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), but the event did not work with their schedules. 
 
 Still, a number of women and men on social media criticized the choice to schedule Sanders on the convention’s opening day. 
 
 “Unbelievable,” tweeted Leela Daou, co-founder of political site Verrit. “There are countless women who deserve that stage time.” 
 
 “#reclaiming our time?” another woman tweeted. “Not this way.” 
 
 Sadly not one single woman was available. https://t.co/5cKMdkxhHt — Jennifer Wright (@JenAshleyWright) October 12, 2017 
 
 A white dude is delivering the opening speech at the first women’s convention in 40 years. 
 
 
 
 Such progress. Wow. https://t.co/WNmVznMo9K — Imani Gandy is definitely irritated. (@AngryBlackLady) October 12, 2017 
 
 Organizers expect upward of 3,000 people to attend the convention — by late last month 2,300 people had registered, The Washington Post reported. The registration fee is $295 per person and $125 for those under 25. The convention is pegged to be one of the largest of its kind, and it will offer a variety of workshops and training sessions, according to its website. 
 
 In contrast to the Women’s March the day after President Trump’s inauguration, which was an emotional protest, the October convention will focus on instruction and training on leadership and activism, organizer Linda Sarsour told The Post last month. 
 
 “These are people who are still fired up,” Sarsour said. “What they are looking for is another opportunity to build and feel inspired and motivated.” 
 
 Morning from Morning Mix: 
 
 A healthy mom gives birth at a hospital. Days later, flesh-eating bacteria strikes. 
 
 Scientists digging in Swiss sewage find millions in gold and silver 
 
 TV dramas and sitcoms are suddenly all about immigration 
 
 Texas executes inmate convicted of fatally stabbing a prison guard ||||| Washington (CNN) Organizers behind the Women's Convention still feel the Bern -- and for that, they are feeling the backlash. 
 
 On Thursday, the Women's Convention organizers -- who also led the Women's March in January -- announced Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will be a featured speaker at the three-day event, which will take place in Detroit later this month. 
 
 The convention "aims to have participants leave inspired and motivated, with new connections, skills and strategies for working towards collective liberation for women of all races, ethnicities, ages, abilities, sexual identities, gender expressions, immigration statuses, religious faiths, and economic statuses," according to its press release. 
 
 The news of Sanders as one of the headliners was met by mixed reactions on Twitter. 
 
 "What ultimately disappoints me about the choice of Sanders to open the first Women's Convention in some 40 or so years is that we have some excellent leaders to choose from who are women," Valerie Street, who tweeted her disappointment, told CNN. "Ones who are blazing their own trails in American politics right now." 
 
 The 35-year-old, who is a community organizer from Austin, Texas, said she is not planning on attending the convention because of scheduling conflicts; though she did participate in the March in January. 
 
 "The Women's March nucleus has been such a woman-led movement," she said. But the Sanders news "seems like an odd departure from that at a critical time." 
 
 Others echoed this view, and questioned why a man is the opening-night speaker. The convention's official theme is "Reclaiming Our Time," inspired by the viral phrase Rep. Maxine Waters' repeated to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in August. Waters will also speak at the convention. 
 
 Sorry. I'm not attending a women's convention where the opening night speaker isn't a woman. Perhaps consider these choices next time. pic.twitter.com/HiVpQ3I78n — Jean Grey 2017 (@JeanGrey80) October 12, 2017 
 
 "Sorry. I'm not attending a women's convention where the opening night speaker isn't a woman," one Twitter user wrote, sharing a photo collage of Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar. "Perhaps consider these choices next time." 
 
 The petition, created by Amanda Hambrick Ashcraft, said: "Bernie's voice, and the voices of ALL men, women, non-conforming, non-binary, cis, and transgender people who share a passion for the unity principles of the Women's March are needed and necessary voices for this movement. We want them at the convention. We want them listening. We want them leading. We want to learn from them, be challenged by them, changed and ignited by them. We even want them speaking at the Convention -- just not opening it. ... Having a man's face only continues the invisible presence, work and voices of women." 
 
 Some of the backlash geared toward the Sanders pick also stems from leftover frustration from the 2016 election. Although the Women's March rallied thousands across the US, some argued the organizers were not inclusive enough of Hillary Clinton, who was the first woman to win the nomination for president of a major political party. 
 
 "I knew you weren't to be trusted when you threw HRC under the bus at the march, but this is beyond the pale," one user wrote on Twitter Thursday. 
 
 I knew you weren't to be trusted when you threw HRC under the bus at the march, but this is beyond the pale. — RogueArtist (@TinaDuryea) October 12, 2017 
 
 Despite the uproar, Tamika Mallory, Women's March co-president, said she feels Sanders is the perfect fit for the convention, describing him in a statement as a "fierce champion of women's rights" and someone who has bolstered "female voices throughout his career of public service." 
 
 "We invited many elected officials to our convention that align with the purpose and mission of our existence -- to harness the political power of diverse women and their communities to create transformative social change," she said in follow-up statement after the news was announced. "We are thrilled that Rep. Maxine Waters and Sen. Sanders will be speaking at the Women's Convention." 
 
 Mallory elaborated that while some female lawmakers won't be present, they still extended their support for the event. 
 
 "We all know how busy women leaders are, and we are grateful for the support of women like Secretary Clinton along with Sens. Harris, Warren and (Kirsten) Gillibrand," Mallory said. "Although their schedules did not allow them to join us in Detroit the weekend of October 27, they will be fighting for our shared values, as they do every day. Our program features more than 60 women leading in activism, organizing and advocacy, as well as grassroots leaders running for and serving in office across the country. We are excited to come together, to unite across our differences and to fight for the future we all believe in." 
 
 In a series of tweets on Thursday afternoon , Mallory addressed criticism from Women's March followers. 
 
 ".@womensmarch is led by women, mainly WOC. We announce one man as a speaker among over 60, and y'all start saying he's our leader?!" she wrote. "When you lash out at WOC leaders, saying we have a man as our headliner/leader, you erase our work. You erase Rep Waters' work. LISTEN TO US. To the folks yelling at @womensmarch & directly at me: Why does your version of advocating for women's rights = bashing Black women leaders?" 
 
 .@womensmarch is led by women, mainly WOC. We announce one man as a speaker among over 60, and y'all start saying he's our leader?! — Tamika D. Mallory (@TamikaDMallory) October 12, 2017 
 
 She pointed out that the convention has over "60 speakers currently lined up. Only 2 are men." She emphasized that Waters, who is a black woman, was announced as a speaker in mid-September. 
 
 A representative for Sanders said he had no further comment aside from his additional statement in the press release, in which he expressed his enthuasism for the event. 
 
 In a statement provided in the initial press release, Sanders expressed enthusiasm about the event. 
 
 "I'm honored to join the women at the front lines of our struggle for economic, social, racial and environmental justice," Sanders said. "In January, millions of women came out in an extraordinary and unprecedented display of power and resistance. Now more than ever, we must support the leadership of women across the country and fight together to advance our progressive agenda." 
 
 Other speakers include actress and activist Piper Perabo, political commentator and community organizer Sally Kohn, The Young Turks reporter Nomiki Konst, co-executive director of the Indivisible Project Leah Greenberg, Michigan Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan state Rep. Stephanie Chang, Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and others. ||||| CLOSE The first national women's convention in four decades is poised to kick off in Detroit. Detroit Free Press 
 
 Former Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., waves to the delegates before addressing the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia , Monday, July 25, 2016. (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP) 
 
 Editor's Note: This article has been updated to clarify Tamika Mallory's statements regarding Bernie Sanders. 
 
 The Women's Convention will feel the Bern later this month, when Bernie Sanders visits Detroit to address more than 3,000 women and progressive activists as they get ready for the 2018 midterm elections. 
 
 The senator from Vermont, an independent who challenged Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, is to address the crowd the evening of Oct. 27, on the first day of a three-day convention organized by the Women's March. 
 
 “I’m honored to join the women at the front lines of our struggle for economic, social, racial and environmental justice. In January, millions of women came out in an extraordinary and unprecedented display of power and resistance," Sanders said in reference to the Women's March on Washington and sister protests in cities around the world on the first day of President Donald Trump's administration. "Now more than ever, we must support the leadership of women across the country and fight together to advance our progressive agenda." 
 
 Protesters carry signs at the Women's March on Washington on Jan. 21, 2017. (Photo: KishaBari/Women's March) 
 
 Sanders' unconventional campaign for president led a mini revolt within the Democratic Party, splintering off millennials and other supporters who raged along with him about economic disparities in America, a need for campaign finance reform, ways to rein in the cost of a college education and raise the minimum wage. 
 
 When Women's March Co-founder Tamika Mallory was asked: "People are going to say, wait a minute, there’s a man as the headliner at the Women’s Convention, the first women’s convention in 40 years?" she replied: 
 
 "I would say that (U.S. Rep.) Maxine Waters is also coming to the conference, and we know she has been a very, very powerful voice in terms of all we’ve seen happening in terms of this administration, particularly, and she’ll be at the conference as well. And a lot of other people have been invited to the conference and we’re hoping to hear back from these folks. Thankfully, Sen. Sanders has agreed to attend." 
 
 Mallory also noted Sanders knows how to mobilize a new generation of activists. 
 
 WASHINGTON, DC -- Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), gets a kiss from his wife Jane O'Meara Sanders after speaking at a campaign rally at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium June 9, 2016 in Washington, DC. After a meeting with President Barack Obama earlier at the White House, Sanders said he will work with Hillary Clinton to beat Donald Trump in the presidential election. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images) 
 
 "I think that right now, no one can deny that Bernie Sanders is probably one of the most powerful U.S. senators ... on progressive issues, women’s issues, mobilizing millennials," Mallory told the Free Press in an exclusive interview Wednesday night. "He is really in line with the principles of the Women's March." 
 
 Those principles involve working toward collective liberation for women of all races, ethnicities, ages, abilities, sexual identities, gender expressions, immigration statuses, religious faiths, and economic statuses. 
 
 Carmen Perez, left, Bob Bland, Tamika D. Mallory and Linda Sarsour attend the TIME 100 Gala, celebrating the 100 most influential people in the world, at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center on Tuesday, April 25, 2017, in New York. (Photo: Charles Sykes, Charles Sykes/Invision/AP) 
 
 "There will definitely be a focus on the 2018 election and how we build political power," Mallory said, "but there will certainly be an educational component to help people who are new activists and give them the tools they need to do work in their communities that may not always be political but certainly is important." 
 
 Sanders, Mallory said, brings the experience of a long-time Senator who continues to work to bring progressive change to government. 
 
 "We believe as women ... that we ought to have more than just women at the Women's Convention," Mallory said. "People want to hear from the leadership from within our government who can give us some insight about what's happening … so we can know what we need to do to be able organize." 
 
 Sen. Bernie Sanders looks on after the Vermont delegation cast their votes during roll call on the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center, July 26, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo: NICHOLAS KAMM, AFP/Getty Images) 
 
 The Women's Convention, which will take place at Detroit's Cobo Center, is themed "Reclaiming Our Time," a play on the words spoken by Waters, a California Democrat, who pushed back against Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin as he tried to derail her line of questioning. 
 
 Waters also is expected to address convention-goers, as will other politicians, activists and celebrities, including actress Amber Tamblyn. Her personal account of sexual harassment in Hollywood was published in the New York Times in September. In it, she denounced the way society dismisses women's reports of their sexual abuse, assault and harassment, drawing attention to why women so often don't speak up. 
 
 Less than a month after Tamblyn's story was published, the Times came out with an exposé revealing decades of sexual harassment and assault claims against producer Harvey Weinstein. 
 
 "The overall message is that this conference is really designed as a way to empower voices in exactly the way that you see women coming forward with their stories about Harvey Weinstein," Mallory said, whether those stories involve sexual violence, harassment, domestic violence, police brutality or any other form of mistreatment in their lives. 
 
 RELATED: 
 
 Women's Convention snags Auntie Maxine's 'Reclaiming my time' theme 
 
 Michiganders: You can still get a scholarship to Women's Convention 
 
 Maxine Waters will attend Women's Convention 
 
 "We want to make sure that women know they have the power in unity to come forward and tell their stories, whatever their stories may be, and we have the obligation to protect their voices. We hope that at this conference more women will feel empowered to speak out, to tell," she said. 
 
 "Whether that means they’re an undocumented person that wants to tell their story. Whether that means they've been abused by police and they want to tell their story. Whether that means they've been sexually violated and they want to tell their story. We want every person to feel that this is a safe place to tell their stories, to learn and organize in their local communities to do something to help others that may be experiencing the same." 
 
 Other speakers at the convention include: 
 
 Actress and producer Piper Perabo 
 
 Sally Kohn, CNN political commentator and columnist 
 
 Nomiki Konst, co-founder and executive director of The Accountability Project 
 
 Leah Greenberg, co-founder of the Trump resistance group Indivisible 
 
 Liliana Reyes, a transgender Latina activist 
 
 Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams 
 
 Stosh Cotler, CEO of Bend the Arc Jewish Action 
 
 Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution 
 
 Ai-jen Poo, executive director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance 
 
 Michigan state Rep. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, 
 
 Detroit City Councilwoman Raquel Castañeda Lopez 
 
 Michigan Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer 
 
 For more details about the convention, go to www.womensconvention.com. Conference tickets are available online at http://www.womensconvention.com/register.html. The ticket cost for all three days of the conference is $295 for adults and $125 for students. Single-day tickets are available for $125. 
 
 Contact Kristen Jordan Shamus: 313-222-5997 or kshamus@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://on.freep.com/2wPxIh1 ||||| On Thursday, October 12th, the Women's March, a movement that formed in late 2016 with the mission to “harness the political power of diverse women and their communities to create transformative social change,” announced that Senator Bernie Sanders will open the first Women’s Convention, set for October 27-29th in Detroit. 
 
 We deeply appreciate the volunteer time, energy, sweat and tears that the Women’s March co-chairs, board, and committees give to this vital movement. Women know that our time and work is often undervalued, underpaid, and unknown. Your work is not unknown. Thank you. 
 
 At this moment, however, we must voice our deep disappointment with the choice to have Senator Sanders, a male, open the Women’s Convention. 
 
 Sign this petition to let the Women’s Convention organizers know that we do not want Senator Sanders to OPEN the Women’s Convention. We believe a female-identifying individual should open the Women’s Convention, as optics are important, and there is no one more qualified to speak about women’s issues than a woman. 
 
 In an October 12th USA Today article, Women’s March co-chair Tamika Mallory (whom I highly respect), states that Sanders was chosen because he “knows how to mobilize a new generation of activists,” and “is probably one of the most powerful U.S. Senators ... on progressive issues, women’s issues…” 
 
 We believe: 
 
 o Bernie does know how to mobilize a new generation of activists (for that we are grateful) but did the organizers forget that WOMEN organized the largest protest in US history? 
 
 o Bernie has been a long time champion for progressive values (again, we are grateful) 
 
 o Bernie’s voice, and the voices of ALL men, women, non-conforming, non-binary, cis, and transgender people who share a passion for the unity principles of the Women’s March are needed and necessary voices for this movement. We want them at the convention. We want them listening. We want them leading. We want to learn from them, be challenged by them, changed and ignited by them. We even want them speaking at the Convention - just not opening it. 
 
 o Optics are extremely important. The Women’s Convention, in her goal of empowering and putting the voices of women on the front lines, should lead by example and have a woman open the convention. The individual who kicks off an event often becomes the “face” of the event. It is only right to have a woman's face for the Women’s Conference. Having a man’s face only continues the invisible presence, work, and voices of women. 
 
 o Women are best qualified to speak about women’s issues. 
 
 o Sanders' reference to Planned Parenthood as “the establishment” makes him a divisive opener. 
 
 Not choosing a woman clearly communicates that the organizers don’t believe a woman is qualified, available, or equal to the task of opening the Women’s Convention, and further communicates there are no strong female leaders in our nation right now. We know this is not true and strongly urge you to reconsider your decision to have Bernie Sanders open the convention. 
 
 Thank you. 
 
 Amanda 
 
 Mother, Minister, Magic-Maker ||||| If you thought the open booing of Ted Cruz during the Republican National Convention was a sign that the event had gotten way out of hand, then the first day of the Democrats’ convention was something else entirely. 
 
 During speech after speech, even by Sanders supporters like former NAACP head Ben Jealous or Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Bernie Sanders fans booed and occasionally interrupted with chants of, "Lock her up!" or "No TPP!" Despite repeated attempts by Sanders himself to calm the insurrection, it kept going. 
 
 But by the end of the night, the insurrection had calmed down. Pro-Bernie speakers, and Bernie himself, used their time slots to acknowledge Bernie dead-enders’ grievances and make a case for Clinton aimed directly at them. And from the look of things, it worked. 
 
 Here’s who left opening night better off, and who took some hits. 
 
 Winner: Michelle Obama 
 
 Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton are the only two people living on Earth to have the experience of putting a career on hold to become first lady of the United States. Rosalynn Carter and Barbara Bush were primarily homemakers before moving to the White House. Laura Bush had quit her job as a librarian long before George W. Bush made it to Washington. But Clinton gave up her job as a partner at a prestigious Little Rock law firm. Obama gave up a senior executive position at the University of Chicago Hospitals. 
 
 When Clinton was at the stage that Obama has now reached, she was running for Senate in New York, as it was her turn to forge her own political career once Bill’s was finished. Obama has shown little interest in following that path; she declined to challenge Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) this year and has over and over again expressed reluctance about her husband’s decision to go into politics in the first place, not exactly a sign of an insatiable political animal who’ll miss this life terribly. 
 
 But for all their differences, she shares with Clinton a conviction that the position of first lady — with its focus on domesticity and family — needn’t be limiting, and can be a powerful platform to express the administration and party’s values and ideals. And you can see that theme woven throughout her convention speech. Clinton, she said again and again, will do right by our families. She will do right by our children. 
 
 The cynical reading is that Obama is accepting the limited understanding of first lady as confined to commenting on and thinking about traditional women’s and parenting issues. But something more substantial is going on here. Clinton has spent much of her life, from her time at the Children’s Defense Fund to It Takes a Village to her current push on paid parental leave, demanding that "women’s issues" be taken seriously, that concerns of parenting and children and motherhood are as important as anything else on the minds of presidents. 
 
 Obama hit that message again and again and again, with feeling and conviction: 
 
 I trust Hillary to lead this country because I have seen her lifelong devotion to our nation’s children. Not just her own daughter, who she has raised to perfection. But every child who needs a champion. Kids who take the long way to school to avoid the gangs. Kids who wonder how they will ever afford college. Kids whose parents don't speak a word of English but dream of a better life. Who look to us to dream of what they can be. Hillary has spent decades doing the relentless work to actually make a difference in their lives. …Hillary understands that the president is about one thing and one thing only — it is about leaving something better for our kids. …Because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters and all of our sons and daughters now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States. 
 
 And after a primary race in which the failings of the first Clinton administration on mass incarceration and welfare and other racially charged issues came to the fore repeatedly, Obama explicitly tied the historic nature of Clinton’s campaign to the historic progress represented by her and her husband’s move to the White House: 
 
 Leaders like Hillary Clinton who have the guts and the grace to keep coming back and putting those cracks in the highest and hardest glass ceiling until they finally break through, lifting all of us along with her. That is the story of this country. The story that has brought me to the stage tonight. The story of generations of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation, who kept on striving and hoping and doing what needed to be done so that today, I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves. And I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent black young women, play with the dog on the White House lawn. 
 
 Here, too, Obama is recentering her role as first lady and mother as a role of consequence. That Malia and Sasha are playing and living and thriving in rooms built using slave labor, by slave owners who never dreamed that they were building a home for the descendants of the men they kept as property, is itself a political act, a political accomplishment, a real step forward for the country. 
 
 Tellingly, Obama did not mention Trump. Hers was a purely positive speech, the kind of soaring, inspirational oratory that made her husband famous 12 years ago. A week after Obama’s national debut speech at the 2008 convention was plagiarized by Trump’s wife, her remarks tonight felt like the ultimate rebuke. She is a more confident, fluent, and powerful speaker than she was in 2008 — and a far more persuasive one, too. 
 
 Winner: Bernie Sanders 
 
 Bernie Sanders lost the presidential race well over a month ago, which meant that his goal at the convention was to a) try to win over his supporters to the Clinton camp and ensure a Trump defeat; b) curry favor with Democratic elites such that he can retain his position as the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee and be positioned to shape budget policy should Democrats retake the Senate; and c) maintain the support of his following such that he can continue to mobilize them to support whatever efforts he pursues in the Senate going forward. 
 
 Goals A and B are conveniently very well-aligned. C, however, has to be balanced carefully. Sanders had to persuade his followers that he hadn’t sold out but that they still need to vote for the candidate he spent the whole primary telling them was beholden to corporate America. 
 
 His remarks struck that balance well. The speech was unmistakably Sanders. There were invocations of the political revolution, of the greed of Wall Street and pharmaceutical companies, the reference to $27 average donations and the need for tuition-free college. There was all the red meat a Bern feeler could’ve asked for. 
 
 But that red meat was tethered strongly to a repeated, clear, and unequivocal reiteration of his endorsement of Clinton: 
 
 Hillary Clinton understands that if someone in America works 40 hours a week, that person should not be living in poverty. She understands that we must raise the minimum wage to a living wage. And she is determined to create millions of new jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure – our roads, bridges, water systems, and wastewater plants. But her opponent – Donald Trump – well, he has a very different view. He does not support raising the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour – a starvation wage. While Donald Trump believes in huge tax breaks for billionaires, he believes that states should actually have the right to lower the minimum wage below $7.25. What an outrage! 
 
 If this sounds like Sanders’s typical calls for more infrastructure and jobs spending, and a $15-an-hour minimum wage, with Clinton’s name added, that’s exactly the point. He’s arguing that Clinton is not merely better than Trump but is affirmatively committed to the principles that drove his own campaign. 
 
 And he didn’t ignore the cognitive dissonance created by him praising a candidate he was fiercely condemning not two months ago. He instead told a plausible story of how he came aboard, one that emphasized the gains he and his movement made in the process: 
 
 It is no secret that Hillary Clinton and I disagree on a number of issues. That’s what this campaign has been about. That’s what democracy is about. But I am happy to tell you that at the Democratic platform committee there was a significant coming together between the two campaigns, and we produced, by far, the most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party. Among many other strong provisions, the Democratic Party now calls for breaking up the major financial institutions on Wall Street and the passage of a 21st-century Glass-Steagall Act. It also calls for strong opposition to job-killing free trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership. 
 
 It was the ideal Sanders speech both for keeping his supporters on his side and for trying to move them to Clinton’s camp, and every major Democrat should be thrilled at how well he nailed it. 
 
 Winner: Sarah Silverman 
 
 Who could have guessed that the comedian behind this bit would’ve gone off script and off message in her DNC appearance? 
 
 You can understand why the DNC organizers scheduled time for Silverman. She was paired with fellow Saturday Night Live alum Sen. Al Franken, who presumably would keep her on track. The two, one a comedian supporting Clinton and the other a comedian supporting Sanders, made a good pro-unity pairing. Using their call for a "bridge" between the two sides of the primary divide as an opening for Paul Simon’s performance of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" was a little corny, but what political convention isn’t? 
 
 But when Silverman was added, organizers presumably didn’t know there’d be a substantial number of pro-Bernie hecklers. They didn’t know she’d effectively be charged with winning over the most hostile and skeptical segment of the audience. And they thus didn’t anticipate that she would respond to the situation the way any comedian facing hecklers would — by fighting back, and telling the crowd, "Can I just say, to the Bernie or bust people, you're being ridiculous." 
 
 That was definitely not in the script. The words "Bernie or Bust" were not supposed to be uttered; even mentioning it is giving the idea more attention than national Democrats really want. And directly confronting the Bernie die-hards risks alienating them further and adding to the convention’s drama. 
 
 Here’s the thing, though: It looks like it worked. The comment brought on a wave of applause, and Vox reporters on the floor say the response was overwhelmingly positive. 
 
 "The most effective speech by a celebrity I've ever seen." -Republican Nicole Wallace, on Sarah Silverman's appearance #DNCinPHL — Doug Benson (@DougBenson) July 26, 2016 
 
 Obviously, some Bernie die-hards won’t be persuaded by Silverman, and might even be put off. But for casual Bernie supporters watching at home, weighing whether to stay home or throw in for Hillary, it might have been the bracing moment they needed to get on board. 
 
 And millions not watching at home will probably see aggregations of the moment floating around on Facebook and Google and hear, even in passing, the idea that "Bernie or Bust" is a joke. That wouldn’t have happened if Silverman had approached the speech more traditionally and stuck to the script. 
 
 Winner: American exceptionalism 
 
 Traditionally, the left and even many liberals have had a conflicted relationship with American political culture’s insistence that America is wonderful and must be celebrated. Almost by definition, to be liberal, or at least anti-conservative, in this country is to embrace the idea that America or at least its government needs to change. 
 
 The health care system should be less American and more Canadian. The tuition system for higher education should be less American and more German. The family leave policy should be less American and more Swedish. America’s preeminence in the world is a mixed blessing that leads to disasters like Vietnam and Iraq as much as it does triumphs like the end of the Soviet Union. 
 
 This is a tension conservatives have identified and exploited to great effect. You can see it in attacks on "socialized medicine" and European-style "class warfare," and in more sophisticated and paranoid attacks like Dinesh D’Souza’s claim that Barack Obama is animated by a fundamentally foreign anti-colonialist perspective. 
 
 Then something weird happened: Republicans nominated Donald Trump. And Donald Trump is not a fan of America, or at least America as it currently exists. Even as he argues for a fervently nationalistic foreign policy and appeals to his base with jingoistic rhetoric, Trump’s overarching slogan proclaims that America must be made great again, that it has lost a past glory, that something is, at this juncture, fundamentally wrong with it. 
 
 That, combined with the major progress of the Obama administration in making America more like the universal health care–boasting, marriage equality–having, anti-racist country liberals have wanted for decades, has enabled a Democratic convention that is almost unprecedentedly patriotic and celebratory of America: 
 
 Eva Longoria: " A Latina from south Texas is introducing the first black senator from New Jersey on the week we will nominate our first female candidate for president of the United States. So guess what, Donald, it turns out America is pretty great already." 
 
 Cory Booker: "Free from fear and intimidation, let us declare we are a nation of interdependence and that in America love always trumps hate. Let us declare so that generations yet unborn can hear us. We are the United States of America. Our best days are ahead of us." 
 
 Michelle Obama: "Don't let anyone ever tell you that this country is not great. That somehow we need to make a great again. Because this right now is the greatest country on Earth." 
 
 Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA): "Donald Trump says the American dream is dead. Why does he want to lead America when he does not even believe in America? Donald Trump is wrong. This is a remarkable country. By geography and by destiny, we are a land set apart." 
 
 Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA): "Donald, let me say this. America is great. It is the country that gave my family the opportunity for a better life, just like all immigrants who came before them. It is because of our diversity that we are the envy of the world." 
 
 Not every speaker took this tone; Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, naturally, kept the focus on America’s problems with money in politics and persistent economic disparities. And to be sure, the tone of the event was not quietist. There’s plenty more the speakers want done — and expect Clinton to do if elected. 
 
 But Sanchez’s comment is nonetheless instructive. This election is about immigration, due to Trump’s obsessive focus on the issue. And immigration really is an issue on which the US stands apart. No other rich nation shares our historical commitment to taking in large numbers of immigrants and integrating them into the American community and economy. Denmark, otherwise looked to by liberals as a model, is horrendously disappointing at letting in refugees and immigrants. It’s basically a gated community as a nation. 
 
 This is a place where the Democratic platform is genuinely more in line with American tradition and distinctively American values, and the convention speakers have noticed. The result is an exuberant, celebratory take on America and its history from a left-of-center perspective, something that few orators not named Barack Obama have tried much at all. 
 
 Loser: Debbie Wasserman Schultz 
 
 First, Debbie Wasserman Schultz was going to open the convention as the Democratic National Committee’s chair. Then she resigned her position under pressure but was still going to open the convention. Then she ultimately didn’t get to do anything at all. Her role at the convention was limited to a breakfast meeting with the Florida delegation, a meeting that was greeted by throngs of pro-Sanders protesters armed with anti–Wasserman Schultz signs. 
 
 And she’ll go home to a contentious primary election on August 30 with a challenger, Tim Canova, who has out-fundraised her and is endorsed by Bernie Sanders and supported by Sanders's large movement of supporters still grieving his loss to Clinton. The race previously looked like a gimme for Wasserman Schultz, but that appears to be changing, at least in the eyes of state Sen. and delegate Eleanor Sobel, a DWS ally: 
 
 In an interview three weeks ago, Sobel said Wasserman Schultz wouldn't have any problem defeating Canova in the primary. On Monday, she was less certain. "I hope not," she said when asked if Wasserman Schultz is in danger of losing. "I don't know. I think there are people just like myself who believe that Debbie has done so much for our community. She's a known entity. We know what she can do. And she will continue fighting," Sobel said. 
 
 At the start of this weekend, Wasserman Schultz was, at least on paper, one of the most powerful Democrats in the country. By the end of August, she could be a lame-duck incumbent without a political position in Congress, the DNC, or anywhere. 
 
 This has been a long time coming, however. Reportedly, John Podesta, the chair of Clinton's campaign, asked to remove Wasserman Schultz last fall, only to have Obama nix the idea — not because he didn't want her gone, but because he thought it'd be too much drama. 
 
 "The Obama team — especially 2012 campaign manager Jim Messina — long viewed Wasserman Schultz as a major campaign liability, questioning her fundraising prowess and her tendency to appoint personal aides to positions of authority, prioritizing loyalty over competence and effectiveness as a spokesperson for Democrats," report Politico's Glenn Thrush, Gabriel Debenedetti, and Edward-Isaac Dovere. 
 
 She made a whole new set of enemies with the primary campaign, in which Sanders supporters, and Sanders himself, saw her as violating the DNC’s promise of neutrality and subtly making decisions that helped Clinton. As Vox’s Jeff Stein explains, "She got into bitter arguments with the Sanders camp about obscure Nevada caucus rules, made a mess of the debate schedule, fought over ballot access data, and may have helped Clinton skirt the campaign finance rules." 
 
 So when WikiLeaks released emails showing DNC staff bashing Sanders, that was the last straw. Wasserman Schultz was out of the chair position within 24 hours. By Monday, she was no longer opening the convention. It was a long time coming, but when it came, it happened fast. And the rest of the Democratic establishment wasn’t particularly broken up about it: 
 
 Senior Dem, close to the Clintons, to me just now 'Thank you Wikileaks for accomplishing something we couldn't' — Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) July 24, 2016 
 
 At this point, the best-case scenario for Wasserman Schultz is that she wins her primary and gets reelected to the House. She'll become the chair of an appropriations subcommittee if Democrats ever win back their majority. Who knows, maybe she'll chair the whole Appropriations Committee some day. But her time in the national limelight is over. And if the primary goes wrong, her time in elected politics will be over too. 
 
 Loser: TPP 
 
 Political parties don’t generally campaign on issues on which they agree. You don’t see Republican Senate candidates going from town to town saying, "Bribing politicians to enact certain policies should remain a crime," and Hillary Clinton hasn’t formally announced, "I think alcohol should continue to be legal." There’s no actual political debate on the topics, and so it doesn’t come up. 
 
 That’s why it’s so odd to compare the rhetoric on trade at the DNC with that at the RNC last week. Here are a few statements; some are from Trump’s acceptance speech, some from the first night of the DNC. Can you tell which is which? 
 
 "It begins with a new, fair trade policy that protects our jobs and stands up to countries that cheat." "We need to fight for trade policies that put American workers first, which means we must say no to bad trade deals, and that includes the TPP." "Trade deals … strip our country of jobs." "We need to commit ourselves to making good-paying jobs here at home." "I have visited the laid-off factory workers, and the communities crushed by our horrible and unfair trade deals." "We believe that the United States should never sign trade deals that help big corporations and leave workers in the dirt." 
 
 The odd statements are Trump; the even ones are Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Bob Casey (D-PA), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), respectively. The rhetoric is nearly identical. Both parties are committing themselves to opposing unrestricted free trade and outsourcing and, more specifically, the TPP — even though the incumbent Democratic president is the one who negotiated it. 
 
 You could see this foreshadowed over the weekend, when newly named Clinton running mate Tim Kaine told reporters he shared Clinton’s opposition to TPP, a deal he had praised as recently as Thursday. Of course, Clinton came out against the deal after having been involved in its negotiation in her role as secretary of state; it was a bizarre turnaround, one that she still has yet to adequately explain and that only makes sense as a way to temper the strength of Bernie Sanders’s primary challenge. 
 
 And yet she’s not only stuck with it but insisted that her running mate adopt her position as well, and let the opening night of her convention involved repeated attacks on the deal. 
 
 It’s reasonable to be skeptical that Clinton will actually uphold her election-year stance upon taking office. It was telling that during a portion of the convention devoted to attacking Trump’s outsourcing record, the DNC aired a video starring Austan Goolsbee, the former White House chief economist who famously told Canadian officials in 2008 that Obama was just bullshitting when he said he wanted to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. 
 
 In practice, most presidents, regardless of their campaign rhetoric on trade, abide closely to WTO rules upon taking office and pursue additional bi- and multilateral agreements. 
 
 But the attack on TPP specifically could prove significant. It’s possible Clinton will amend it slightly, declare her concerns adequately addressed, and push it through Congress as though she’d never opposed it at all. But that’d be very awkward after her campaign position, and political scientists have found that campaign promises have surprisingly large effects on administration policy. It’s likelier that the agreement will simply die under her, as under Trump, if Obama can’t push it through in the lame-duck session. 
 
 That’s a major defeat for the main part of the American trade agenda of the past five or so years. And it suggests that the old party alignments on trade, with Republicans enthusiastically supporting free trade and Democrats being slightly more skeptical but still pretty on board, are being disrupted. Now the Republicans are the most outspokenly protectionist party, and Democrats attack them as hypocrites ("Trump outsources his T-shirts!" etc. ) but do not challenge their underlying trade skepticism. 
 
 Having Republicans be the stronger trade opponents more closely matches where actual voters are on trade issues, but if anything, Democrats are running the risk of being more trade-skeptical than their base is. Pew polling found that while 56 percent of Democratic voters say free trade agreements have been a good thing for the US, only 38 percent of Republicans agree. They're likelier to endorse NAFTA than Republicans are as well. 
 
 That Democratic trade enthusiasm was nowhere in evidence at the DNC — especially on TPP. ||||| People stand in line to vote inside Brookside Engine Company 1 firehouse Tuesday, June 7, 2016, in Mendham Township, N.J. Hillary Clinton faces off with Bernie Sanders and New Jersey's 12 congressional... (Associated Press) 
 
 People stand in line to vote inside Brookside Engine Company 1 firehouse Tuesday, June 7, 2016, in Mendham Township, N.J. Hillary Clinton faces off with Bernie Sanders and New Jersey's 12 congressional members are up for re-election in Tuesday's primary. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — With a splash of history and a dose of reassurance, Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican Donald Trump claimed their parties' presidential nominations and are turning their political guns on each other. 
 
 Clinton claimed her place in history as the nation's first woman ever assured a major party's presidential nomination. Trump seized the chance to speak in more unifying, substantive tones as Republican leaders have demanded in recent days. 
 
 And for Bernie Sanders, Tuesday's contests offered the chance to cap a remarkable and resilient campaign to level the American playing field — one that vexed the Clinton armada for a solid year. But Tuesday's contests gave Sanders a new taste of victory, and he said he wasn't yet done. 
 
 Political mathletes get to stand down after the final contest of the primaries in District of Columbia June 14. 
 
 Here's a look at how Tuesday's contests unfolded: 
 
 THE BASICS 
 
 The evening offered 694 Democratic delegates up for grabs in New Jersey, California, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota and South Dakota. The District of Columbia, which offers 20 delegates, is the last to vote. 
 
 As Tuesday turned to Wednesday, Clinton won three states while Sanders took Montana and North Dakota. California remained uncalled. 
 
 On the Republican side? That's all, folks. 
 
 The ferocious 17-way battle for the GOP nomination ended quietly Tuesday with the contest's final votes in five states (there was no GOP contest in North Dakota). Trump is the only remaining GOP candidate. 
 
 Technically, it's still not over on either side. Neither Clinton nor Trump will be their parties' official nominees until the formalities of the delegate votes at the parties' national conventions. Associated Press counts of Republican and Democratic convention delegates have found enough support to assure Clinton and Trump their parties' nominations. 
 
 ___ 
 
 WHY IT MATTERS FOR CLINTON 
 
 This time, Clinton got the celebration she'd hoped for in 2008 — and by many accounts, long before that. 
 
 Emotional from the moment she stepped onstage at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Clinton made clear she considers the competition with Sanders over and delivered yet another broadside against Trump. 
 
 The speech was also notable for its timing: The event comes on the eight-year anniversary of Clinton's concession speech to then-Sen. Barack Obama, in which she noted her campaign hadn't breached "that highest, hardest glass ceiling" but that barrier now had "about 18 million cracks in it." 
 
 She's now assured of crossing a boundary as the first woman to win the presidential nomination of any party. How she proceeds toward Election Day begins with mending the stubborn split between her supporters and Sanders' — and depends significantly on how well she learns a bracing lesson he taught her: Young people, especially young women, flocked to him in the primaries. 
 
 The occasion also opens the gates to flashy endorsements. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi didn't wait for the votes Tuesday to announce her support. There's a bigger endorsement on the horizon from President Obama, followed by joint appearances. 
 
 ___ 
 
 WHY IT MATTERS FOR TRUMP 
 
 The contests Tuesday gave the billionaire mogul a high-profile way to pivot from several difficult days in which members of his own party nearly unanimously ordered him to cease his criticism of an American-born judge based on the jurist's ethnicity. 
 
 In his victory speech, Trump spoke of new beginnings. 
 
 "We're only getting started, and it's gonna be beautiful," Trump said at his golf course in Westchester County, N.Y., calling it an "honor" to lead the GOP. "I understand the responsibility of carrying the mantle." 
 
 "Tonight we close one chapter of history and we begin another." 
 
 He also spoke of issues — trade, economic prosperity and more. 
 
 His words were far closer to the tone and approach Republicans have been demanding in the weeks since Trump's remaining rivals surrendered the contest — a sign, perhaps, that he was starting to turn away from the combative and impulsive style that served him well in the primaries and toward fulfilling his promise to unite the fractured party. 
 
 For at least one high-profile Republican, it was too late: Sen. Mark Kirk, who is in a tough re-election fight in Illinois, rescinded his endorsement of Trump. House Speaker Paul Ryan kept his but called Trump's remarks about the judge "racist" and suggested that the mature thing for Trump to do would be to admit they were wrong. 
 
 That didn't happen. But instead of attacking his critics, Trump offered signs he was turning a corner. 
 
 ___ 
 
 OBAMA ENDORSEMENT? 
 
 Not yet. 
 
 Obama called Clinton on Tuesday night to congratulate her for securing "the delegates necessary to clinch" the Democratic nomination. 
 
 But the president did not formally endorse Clinton. The president also called Sanders to praise him for shining a spotlight on economic inequality and energizing millions of voters. 
 
 The White House said Sanders requested a meeting with Obama. The meeting is scheduled for Thursday at the White House. 
 
 ___ 
 
 CONTESTED REPUBLICAN CONVENTION? 
 
 Nope. 
 
 Regardless of how many GOP politicians come out against Donald Trump, the math says they can't contest his nomination. 
 
 With his victories Tuesday, Trump now has at least 1,441 bound delegates who are required by party rules to vote for him at the convention. It takes 1,237 delegates to win the GOP nomination. 
 
 Trump also has public support from 95 unbound delegates, but they could possibly change their minds and switch to another candidate. 
 
 Several Republicans in Congress are criticizing Trump for saying a federal judge could not preside fairly over a case involving Trump University because of his Mexican heritage. 
 
 GOP Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona said Trump's comments could spur talk of a challenge at the convention. 
 
 ___ 
 
 WHAT ABOUT BERNIE? 
 
 For Sanders, Tuesday presented an opportunity to emerge from the race with significant gravitas in the Democratic Party and the Clinton campaign. 
 
 But first, he insisted he's going to continue to fight for the working class and for low-income people in the remaining contest and perhaps beyond. 
 
 Sanders planned to travel to Vermont on Wednesday and head to Washington Thursday for meetings and a rally. 
 
 His campaign, meanwhile, sent out a fundraising email Tuesday evening urging supporters to help him finish strong June 14 in the District of Columbia contest. 
 
 And his North Dakota win gave Sanders a shot of good news amid Clinton's celebration. 
 
 __ 
 
 IN HOUSE ELECTION NEWS ... 
 
 In North Carolina Tuesday, Rep. Renee Ellmers, endorsed by Trump, became the first Republican incumbent ousted in this year's primaries. Rep. George Holding defeated her in a contest resulting from redrawn district lines. 
 
 ___ 
 
 AND IN SENATE ELECTION NEWS.... 
 
 California is sending two Democratic women running for the U.S. Senate to the November ballot: Attorney General Kamala Harris and Rep. Loretta Sanchez of Orange County, running against each other. 
 
 They were among 34 candidates seeking the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Barbara Boxer. Under California election rules only two candidates — the top vote-getters — advance to the November election. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writers Stephen Ohlemacher, Kathleen Hennessey, Ken Thomas, Alan Fram, Nancy Benac and Michael Blood contributed to this report. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Follow Laurie Kellman on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/APLaurieKellman ||||| From Sen. Bernie Sanders sealing Hillary Clinton as the Democratic presidential nominee to former president Bill Clinton’s speech, here what happened at Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention. (Thomas Johnson/The Washington Post) 
 
 From Sen. Bernie Sanders sealing Hillary Clinton as the Democratic presidential nominee to former president Bill Clinton’s speech, here what happened at Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention. (Thomas Johnson/The Washington Post) 
 
 Hillary Clinton on Tuesday became the first woman to be nominated for president by a major political party on a historic night during which her campaign also sought to reintroduce her to skeptical voters and calm continuing tensions here. 
 
 Part of that task fell to former president Bill Clinton, who delivered a keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention that began by recounting his courtship of his wife and detailed her lengthy career in public service, including helping children, immigrants and people with disabilities. 
 
 “She’s the best darn change maker I ever met in my entire life,” the former president said. “This woman has never been satisfied with the status quo on anything. She always wants to move the ball forward. That’s just who she is.” 
 
 Bill Clinton also argued that Republicans had tried to turn his wife into a “cartoon” during their national convention last week in Cleveland. 
 
 “What’s the difference in what I told you and what they said?” he asked. “One is real, and the other is made up. . . . You just have to decide which is which, my fellow Americans.” 
 
 1 of 60 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Scenes from the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia View Photos Follow along as Post photographers document the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Caption Follow along as Post photographers document the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. July 26, 2016 Former president Bill Clinton takes the stage to address the convention. Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. 
 
 Hillary Clinton, along with her daughter, Chelsea, are scheduled to address the convention Thursday, when she formally accepts the nomination. But Tuesday night, she appeared on a large screen, remote from New York, thanking the delegates for helping her put “the biggest crack in that glass ceiling yet.” 
 
 [Winners and losers from the 2nd night of the Democratic convention] 
 
 Clinton formally secured the nomination earlier in the night during the roll call of states, which ended with a symbolic gesture: Her primary rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, asked that Clinton be declared the nominee by acclamation, a move that prompted resounding cheers. 
 
 Soon after, Clinton sent out a video on Twitter showing Sanders’s remarks and declaring “Stronger together,” her campaign motto. 
 
 Sanders’s action, however, was not sufficient to bring onboard all of his delegates, some of whom walked out of the hall in protest. That added to the party’s difficulties this week in displaying unity as Clinton fights a pitched battle against Republican nominee Donald Trump. 
 
 The program then turned to a long series of speakers offering testimonials to Clinton’s character and record of service. 
 
 [Only the Clintons: Why Bill’s speech tonight will be unlike anything we’ve ever seen] 
 
 They included a series of mothers who have lost their children to gun violence or in police custody and are now fighting for reforms. 
 
 “Hillary is one mother who can ensure our movement will succeed,” said Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, who was fatally shot by a neighborhood-watch volunteer in Florida. 
 
 Chants of “black lives matter” could be heard in the convention arena as the women, who call themselves “The Mothers of the Movement,” made their emotional presentations. 
 
 Roll call vote 
 
 During the roll call of states, Clinton, a former secretary of state, secured the 2,383 delegates needed to win the party’s nomination when the South Dakota delegation cast its votes. 
 
 Sanders, the runner-up for the nomination, appeared on the convention floor at the end of the process and made a motion to suspend the rules. 
 
 “I move that Hillary Clinton be selected as the nominee of the Democratic Party for president of the United States,” Sanders said. 
 
 With the motion seconded, a loud roar of aye’s arose, making her the nominee at 6:56 p.m. Eastern. 
 
 [As Clinton makes history, some already take it for granted] 
 
 The orchestrated show of unity followed a rocky first day of the convention Monday, when it became clear that some of Sanders’s supporters were not ready to accept Clinton as the party’s nominee despite the senator urging them to do so. 
 
 After the roll call, some exited the hall, chanting, “Walkout! Walkout! Walkout!” As the program continued, most of the seats in delegations from Maine, Kansas, Alaska and Oklahoma — all states Sanders won against Clinton — were empty. 
 
 Several Oregon delegates, meanwhile, wrapped black cloth around their jaws, as gags, and headed into the hallway of Wells Fargo Center. There they met dozens of angry delegates from other states. 
 
 The anger of the protesters was fueled in part by leaked emails showing that some Democratic National Committee staff members discussed ways to help Clinton and hurt Sanders in the primaries. The party’s chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, announced her resignation Monday after the revelations. 
 
 Ryan Drundle, a Sanders delegate from Louisiana, walked out wearing a button with the unprintable initialism DNC GFY. 
 
 “The whole election process has been a farce from the get-go,” Drundle said. “There are a dozen states with election-fraud investigations, and nobody’s saying anything about it. It’s a sham.” 
 
 The nominating process began shortly before 5 p.m., with Sanders’s name put forward by Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii). She affectionately called him a “somewhat frumpy, and maybe even sometimes grumpy, 74-year-old guy” who created a progressive movement. 
 
 Sanders sat in the convention hall next to his wife, with a broad smile on his face, as a pair of seconding speeches followed. He stood up and waved to the crowd afterward amid an extended ovation. 
 
 Clinton was nominated by Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), the dean of women senators, who said she was putting forward the former secretary of state’s name “on behalf of all the women who have broken down barriers.” 
 
 Mikulski was followed by Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), the revered civil rights leader, who referenced another “glass ceiling” that was broken with President Obama’s election eight years ago, and Na’ilah Amaru, a Clinton supporter and Iraq veteran who won an online contest to nominate the candidate. 
 
 When Illinois — Clinton’s birthplace — got its chance in the roll call, the honor of casting votes was given to her childhood friend Betsy Ebeling. 
 
 “On this historic, wonderful day, in honor of Dorothy and Hugh’s daughter and my sweet friend — I know you’re watching,” Ebeling said, her voice heavy with emotion. “This one’s for you, Hill.” 
 
 She called out Illinois’s 98 votes for Clinton and let out a final “Yes!” 
 
 Speaking for Clinton 
 
 After the nomination was complete, speakers offered testimonials about Clinton’s public service across a range of areas, and her campaign aired an accompanying series of videos with archival footage showing her efforts. 
 
 The program, billed as “Fights of Her Life,” appeared aimed at rehabilitating the image of a candidate with unusually high unfavorable ratings — though not quite as high as her Republican opponent’s — and deep-seated trust issues. 
 
 Speakers talked about Clinton’s work for women and families, social justice, health care and global security, among other issues, her campaign said. 
 
 They included former Vermont governor Howard Dean (D), who recounted Clinton’s efforts to help create the Children’s Health Insurance Program while she was first lady. 
 
 “She never forgot who she was fighting for,” Dean said. 
 
 The presentations also paid tribute to Clinton’s tenure of secretary of state, highlighting efforts to fight human trafficking as well as various diplomatic endeavors. 
 
 “She sees a world where girls are not captured and sold, but are fearless and bold,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). 
 
 [Democrats’ near-silence on national security may give Trump an opening] 
 
 Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook, said that Tuesday night’s programming is designed to remind Americans about the former secretary of state’s long public-service career. 
 
 “A lot of people aren’t familiar with her accomplishments,” Mook told ABC’s “Good Morning America.” 
 
 Bill Clinton addressed a Democratic convention as a political spouse for the first time. 
 
 Clinton — who could soon become the country’s first “first man” — has been a Democratic convention staple for more 20 years. His 1988 keynote address was widely panned as a meandering, boring speech, but his 1992 nomination acceptance speech buoyed his struggling campaign. In more recent years, the former president has served as a political character witness, most notably for Obama at his 2012 convention. 
 
 Abby Phillip and Sean Sullivan contributed to this report. 
 
 Read more: 
 
 Fact Checker: Claims against Donald Trump 
 
 Neither Warren nor Sanders pulled a Ted Cruz. They didn’t give Hillary Clinton a bear-hug either. 
 
 Democrats’ opening day of discord ends on a high note
– The first national convention by the organizers of the DC Women's March will be held in Detroit starting Oct. 27, but there's already a bit of turmoil over one of the scheduled speakers. The Washington Post reports that Bernie Sanders is set to make remarks on opening day of the three-day Women's Convention, with the Vermont senator writing on Facebook he's "honored to join the women at the front lines of our struggle for economic, social, racial, and environmental justice." But some think that, at a convention dedicated to women's issues and rights, those front lines should be reserved for women only (at least when it comes to prime podium time), and they're grumbling about a selection they don't think should have been made in the first place. "This choice sends the wrong message," tweeted the head of the Emily's List PAC, one of the convention's sponsors. There's even a Change.org petition seeking to remove Sanders as an opening-day speaker, while still acknowledging he's been a "[long-time] champion for progressive values" for which women are "grateful." But Tamika D. Mallory, one of the event's organizers, points out on Twitter that Sanders—just one of two men among the 60-plus scheduled speakers—isn't the day's headliner (Rep. Maxine Waters is), and she points out to the Detroit Free Press that Sanders is an expert activist mobilizer. As for why someone like Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, or even Hillary Clinton wasn't helping to lead opening-day honors, Mallory adds in a statement that "many elected officials" were invited, but that their schedules didn't permit them to attend, per CNN.