Given 2028 some thought

[EarlG]

38. Um, the DNC's post-2016 rule reforms were made at the behest of Bernie Sanders

In 2017, following a bitterly contentious Democratic National Convention and the defeat of nominee Hillary Clinton, representatives of the Sanders, Clinton, and Obama camps came together as a Unity Commission and negotiated reform of the party rules. The unity reforms are a credit to the work of Larry Cohen representing Sanders and then-chair Tom Perez, as well as Keith Ellison, the Sanders-backed candidate for party chair who Perez narrowly defeated for the job.

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The 2017 reforms were a testament to the influence of Sanders forces, who had enough delegates at the 2016 convention to get 25 percent representation on all committees and pushed relentlessly for a more open party.

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On July 30, the Democratic National Committee’s Rules Committee voted unanimously to keep the reform rules in place for 2024. Had this not been done, it would have been up to the new DNC to make the 2024 rules.

The Rules Committee acted partly thanks to a letter sent by 39 state party chairs, urging the committee to leave the reform rules in place. The letter was partly the work of Sanders people but also reflects the desire of most state party chairs to have a more open process with more participation.

https://prospect.org/politics/sanders-continuing-influence-party-rules-stay-reformed/

In 2020 and 2024, Democratic primary candidates were playing by rules which had been rewritten with the strong influence of Bernie Sanders. These were the rules that were in place when Sanders lost the primary to Biden in 2020.