Democratic Presidential hopefuls pitch their campaigns in second day of DNC meeting
SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - The Democratic National Committee meeting in San Francisco is scheduled to wrap up Saturday afternoon.
Regional caucuses in the morning will be followed by a general session from 10:30-1:30p.m. that could see more protests over a vote on whether to have a debate devoted to climate change.
On Friday members heard from the presidential candidates.
Massachusetts congressman and U.S. Marine Seth Moulton used his time to announce at the "Meet the Candidate" forum that he is ending his presidential bid, thanking supporters.
"Most of all I will be campaigning my ass off for whoever wins the nomination for whoever wins the nomination in 2020."
Among the current front runners, Senators Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, and Elizabeth Warren hit on common Democratic themes.
"We will transform our energy system away from fossil fuel," said Bernie Sanders.
"We can provide universal child care for every baby age zero to five," said Senator Warren.
"They've been putting babies in cages and separating children from their parents in the name of border security, when in fact it is a human rights abuse being committed by the United States government," said Senator Harris.
The party also heard from lesser known candidates bringing new ideas.
"There's an Asian man running for president who wants to give everyone $1,000 a month," said businessman Andrew Yang. "A study came out to say our data is worth more than oil. How many of you have received your data check? In Alaska, they call it the oil check. I'm going to call it the tech check. And all of America's going to love it."
"Let the Democratic party be the party that says we will have a Department of Peace. We will not just spend $750 billion on the military," said author Marianne Williamson.
"As President I would insist the DNC not take a penny from any corporation," said billionaire philanthropist Tom Steyer.
"I'm proud to be the first candidate to put out a police reform plan," said Julian Castro, "By instituting a national use of force standard and demilitarizing our police and working to mend the rift that too often exists between some communities and police departments."
"Unaccountable leadership is why we have a loss of trust in America today and why Mr. Trump is not the problem, he's the system of the problem," said retired three-star Navy Admiral Joe Sestak, who served two terms as a Pennsylvania congressman.
He spoke about his daughter's battle with brain cancer and how that has spurred him to fight for better health care for all Americans.
Sestak also spoke about the importance of politicians knowing the cost of military conflict. He entered the race in June and has not yet crossed the 2% support threshold in any poll.
Some candidates talked about the importance of unifying to beat President Trump.
"He wakes up every day and tries to divide us into haves and have-nots," said Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar.
"And now in the most important election of our lifetime we have to make sure we don't lose to him again," said Senator Michael Bennet.
Some candidates such as former Vice President Joe Biden sent a message by video, "So it's up to us, to do what our president can't. Stand together, stand against hate, stand up for what at our best our nation believes. If we stand together we will win the battle for the soul of this nation."
The party is divided though over whether the best path to winning back the White House is with an unabashed progressive candidate or a centrist candidate.
"We're going to unite behind somebody, and I'm making the argument that it can't just be anybody because if we get too far off message we can lose," said Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan.
The DNC has made changes to the primary process since 2016, after some progressives criticized the party for not having a level playing field or being more inclusive of newcomers.
"After the 2016 election, we formed the Unity Commission to bring the party together. We passed a very progressive platform," said Donna Brazile, a former DNC chair who is now a Fox News contributor.
Brazile says the DNC has taken steps to improve transparency and make the primary and caucus process more accessible to voters. There has also been a change in the role of super-delegates, who will not be allowed to vote in the first round, giving more influence to the state chairs and vice-chairs to represent their local interests.
"The first thing they wanted to do is to make sure that super-delegates, people like myself who are party officials, party leaders, party activists, party donors, don't get the first bite at the apple," said Brazile.
"I think it's a really good process because that way the voters know their state chairs and vice-chairs will be voting the way that they voted at the polls, so it's truly a better representation for the nation overall," said Candace Mumm, a new DNC Member and super-delegate.