WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The contentious fight to include leftist principles in the Democratic Party platform proves the importance of the document in the 2016 election in the United States, members of the US House of Representatives Progressive Caucus told Sputnik.
"[The platform] matters because it was a point of contention. It matters because there has been agreement to it," Progressive Caucus leader Raul Grijalva said on Tuesday.
"[The platform] is the statement of our values, and then it is really up to those of us who are progressives to make sure that these values are prioritized once we have, hopefully, Hillary Clinton win the White House," US Congressman Mark Pocan stated.
During a speech on Tuesday, former presidential candidate and US Senator Bernie Sanders praised the Democratic Party platform as "the most progressive" in its history.
After it was clear that Sanders did not have the votes to secure the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, he focused on shaping the party platform to include a number of his widely popular policies, which were more liberal than those advocated by his rival, Hillary Clinton.
Sanders gave his long-awaited endorsement of Clinton after playing a predominant role in the crafting of the Democratic Party’s platform.
The platform will be officially unveiled during the week of July 25 at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
