Dear Democratic National Committee,

We are Democrats and Hillary Clinton supporters writing to ask the Democratic National Committee to stand firm when negotiating with the Bernie Sanders campaign going forward.

We support:

• Debbie Wasserman Schultz to continue her role as DNC chair;
• No further debates between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders;
• No changes to the Committee chairs in the Democratic National Convention unless changes are deemed appropriate by party leadership;
• Adherence to party rules requiring gender parity on the Democratic platform committee; and
• No changes to the Democratic platform unless they are based on party consensus.

Although Bernie Sanders started this primary election promising to run a positive and issue-based campaign, in the last several months he has focused primarily on attacking Hillary Clinton. His campaign has stoked disenchantment among its supporters by falsely claiming the primary process within the Democratic Party is rigged. He has attacked the Democratic Party for having a superdelegate system. Now he seeks to undermine the popular vote by flipping the superdelegates, a goal his supporters seek to accomplish through vicious harassment.

In the last month, his supporters have become increasingly violent in both their speech and actions. After his supporters verbally abused Clinton supporters leaving a rally in East Los Angeles, he called their protests “appropriate.” More recently, after his supporters made death threats to the Nevada DNC chair, he offered only a qualified statement opposing the violence but blaming the Nevada Democrats. His failure to strongly denounce the violent, intimidating tactics employed by his supporters - who, not incidentally, largely target Democratic women and people of color - is a failure of both decency and leadership. Moreover, his continued efforts to delegitimize the party’s nomination process are further feeding the ill will of his most volatile supporters and creating a real danger to the safety of attendees at future conventions.

His quest to undermine the Democratic Party by frightening and endangering its members should not be rewarded. We respectfully request that the DNC hold him accountable for the hostility and lawlessness he has tacitly encouraged and rebuke his demands for greater influence in the party’s convention proceedings.

Finally, it is our hope that you understand that the spirit in which this is sent is not as yet another plea in an already existing cacophony of demands that the Committee is surely faced with at this critical juncture of the campaign. Rather, it is a gesture of concern and practical support for the party that we have collectively, and genuinely, supported for many years.

Sincerely,