Sanders delegates brace for Philadelphia convention fight

McArthur and other Sanders supporters are approaching the gathering with the enthusiasm that has powered the effort from the start — holding garage sales, delivering pizza and raising money online to pay for their travel to Philadelphia.

[...] their nerves are raw now over the Democratic Party's perceived slights against the insurgent candidate and they are clinging to a bygone hope that Sanders can wrest the nomination from Hillary Clinton despite her overpowering lead in delegates.

Some of the Sanders backers who are going to the convention as delegates for him — and there are more than 1,400 — give party officials little reason for comfort.

Sanders delegates, in more than a half-dozen interviews, say that while violence is not their goal for Philadelphia, party unity isn't their priority, either.

Clinton only needs 90 more delegates to lock up the presidential nomination, a number she's likely to reach June 7, the final major day of primary voting.

The state party chairwoman later received death threats and thousands of angry phone calls.

Sanders supporters want the Vermont senator's priorities, like a $15 minimum wage and stricter banking regulations, included in the platform, an agenda that is not binding on the nominee.

[...] as a former Libertarian Party member who became a Democrat because of Sanders' focus on overhauling money in politics, she's not worried about a Sanders-led push causing Democrats heartburn.