A Democratic Party platform meeting in Orlando starting Friday aims to unify supporters of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders before the Democratic National Convention in a few weeks.

  • Democrats meeting in Orlando to discuss party's platform
  • Attendees will try to unify supporters of Clinton, Sanders
  • Sanders supporters say platform is a start but doesn't go far enough

Democratic leaders will discuss and vote on the party’s platform, the blueprint for what the party will advocate going forward, at the meeting at the DoubleTree hotel on Kirkman Road.

A draft of the platform reveals the most progressive move for the Democratic Party in years, but the question is whether it will be enough to get Sanders supporters behind Clinton.

Among the Sanders-supported tenets in the party platform:

  • A call to raise the minimum wage, mentioning that American workers should be earning at least $15 an hour;
  • Paid family and medical leave;
  • Breaking up the too-big-to-fail banks;
  • Eliminate super PACs;
  • A call for universal health care.

But many Sanders supporters say the platform doesn’t go far enough, though it’s a good start.

“I feel that there has been a great influence on the platform from the campaign and ideas of Sen. Bernie Sanders, but there is still room to improve from coming out stronger against the TPP [Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement] and against fracking,” said Ricky Ly, a DNC delegate for Sanders.

The platform says the TPP should make assurances that workers are protected, but Ly says he and other supporters don’t believe the language is strong enough.

“I'd like to see the Democratic Party coming out strongly against voting on the TPP before December,” Ly said. “And to make sure the agreements made are more fair to the people of both America and the Pacific nations, rather than just benefiting corporations.”

Here’s what the platform says about the TPP:

“These are the standards Democrats believe must be applied to any future trade agreements. On the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), there are a diversity of views in the party. Many Democrats are on record stating that the agreement does not meet the standards set out in this platform; other Democrats have expressed support for the agreement. But all Democrats believe that any trade agreement must protect workers and the environment and not undermine access to critically-needed prescription drugs.”

That platform does not mention fracking.

Although the platform also talks about banning super PACs, these groups also figure into funding for the Democrats this election season, even sponsoring events during the convention in Philadelphia.

Even if Sanders supporters get what they want in the platform, there is no guarantee a Democratic president, or a Democratic-led Congress, would follow the platform to the letter.

“The elected president, there’s no guarantee they’re going to adhere 100 percent to the party platform,” said Prof. Susan MacManus, a political expert at the University of South Florida. “So, things change once you become president, and things in the country change and things in the world change.”

MacManus said the platform is more of a roadmap if all things in the world are ideal. And in the end, the platform may not make a difference to many voters.

Still, Ly and other Sanders supporters hope they can move the party further to the left on these issues.

Ly is hoping Clinton’s recent turn toward a harder stance against the TPP will lead to amendments to the draft.

“Even a few months ago, Secretary Clinton was all about working to a minimum $12 an hour, but now it's working toward $15,” Ly said.

Clinton also recently introduced a plan to make college free for families making less than $125,000. Sanders advocates making college free for everyone, regardless of income.