A rule adopted Friday by the Democratic National Committee’s rules and bylaws panel would require that any person who runs for the party’s presidential nomination must fully commit to the Democratic Party.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers and a member of the DNC, said the party “changed the rules to ensure to run for President as a Democrat you need to be A Democrat,” in a tweet along with a photo of the rule’s language after it was included in the proposed draft call for the 2020 Democratic convention at a meeting in Providence, R.I., Yahoo News reported.
@DNC #RBC just changed the rules to ensure to run for President as a Democrat you need to be A Democrat pic.twitter.com/RyHhV0Exhr
— Randi Weingarten (@rweingarten) June 8, 2018
“At the time a presidential candidate announces their candidacy publicly, they must publicly affirm that they are a Democrat,” the rule stipulates. “Each candidate pursuing the Democratic nomination shall affirm, in writing, to the National Chairperson of the Democratic National Committee that they: A. are a member of the Democratic Party; B. will accept the Democratic nomination; and C. will run and serve as a member of the Democratic Party.”
While at first glance the rule would appear designed to bar an outsider like Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who competed against and lost to Hillary Clinton for the 2016 nomination, the self-proclaimed democratic socialist may still be able to run for the Democratic ticket in 2020.
The Vermont Democratic Party passed a resolution in May supporting Sanders’ strategy of competing in the state’s Democratic primary, but opting to decline the nomination after he wins. The resolution says he could be considered a member of the Democratic Party “for all purposes and entitled to all the rights and privileges that come with such membership at the state and federal level.”
A source who spoke to Yahoo News said the DNC rule isn’t aimed at Sanders, nor would it guarantee that he is barred from the 2020 contest. Further, the source described the move as a necessary one to help progress in committee one of Sanders’ priorities: getting rid of superdelegates.
“With the full DNC heading toward the path of essentially eliminating superdelegates on the first ballot, people felt this would help garner support for the superdelegate proposal,” the source told Yahoo News.
The DNC voted in March to “revise the role and reduce the perceived influence” of superdelegates before the 2020 election.
All proposed changes will face a final DNC vote in August.
