Bonnie Schaefer
Template:TOCnestleft Bonnie Schaefer
2016 Platform Drafting Committee
Bernie Sanders supporters Dr. Cornel West and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) will be among those on the Democratic Party's important Platform Drafting Committee after the Vermont senator won a key concession as he looks to leave his mark on the party's platform.
The roster of the drafting committee, released by the Democratic National Committee May 2016, reflects the party's agreement that Sanders would have five supporters on the committee, compared to six for Hillary Clinton.
Sanders previously panned DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who appoints all of the committee members, for failing to include enough of his supporters on an initial list. But the latest statement notes that Wasserman Schultz allocated the campaign's seats "proportionally according to the current vote tally."
Sanders supporters on the committee are author Bill McKibben, Arab American Institute head James Zogby and Native American activist Deborah Parker.
Clinton loyalists on the committee are Ambassador Wendy Sherman, former Clinton staffer and current Center for American Progress head Neera Tanden, Ohio Rep. Alicia Reece, environmentalist Carol Browner, Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez and union head Paul Booth.
The remaining four members were chosen by Wasserman Schultz.
Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, who has endorsed Clinton, will lead the committee and called Sanders's outsized role on the platform "pretty unusual" for a candidate that likely will not be the party's nominee during a Monday interview on MSNBC. And California Rep. Barbara Lee, who has not endorsed either candidate.
Former Rep. Howard Berman and philanthropist and former CEO of Claire's Stores Bonnie Schaefer were also appointed.[1]