How much influence will Bernie Sanders have over Democratic platform?
While the delegate math stands in the way of Bernie Sanders' path to winning the Democratic nomination, it turns out that the Vermont senator will at least have quite a bit of influence over the party's platform.
On Monday, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz announced the appointment of the party Platform Drafting Committee's 15 members.
Wasserman Schultz decided to allocate 75 percent of the committee's seats to the two presidential campaigns. As a result, a DNC official confirmed to CBS News that Hillary Clinton appointed six members, Sanders appointed five members and Wasserman Schultz appointed four people.
The panel is responsible for developing and managing the process through which the platform is established.
The committee's members are Rep. Elijah Cummings, Howard Berman, Paul Booth, Carol Browner, Rep. Keith Ellison, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Rep. Barbara Lee, Bill McKibben, Deborah Parker, State Rep. Alicia Reece, Bonnie Schaefer, Ambassador Wendy Sherman, Neera Tanden, Dr. Cornel West, and James Zogby.
Cummings, who will chair the committee, and Gutierrez have already endorsed Clinton. Tanden, the president of the Center for American Progress, has served as a Clinton surrogate and worked on Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. Sherman served as undersecretary of state for political affairs when Clinton was secretary of State. She was the lead U.S. negotiator on the Iranian nuclear deal. Browner headed the White House's Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy in President Obama's first term. She endorsed Clinton last November.
The others include Zogby, who is the founder and president of the Arab American Institute. McKibben is an American environmentalist and has written extensively about global warming and has expressed support for Sanders. Ellison is among a few members of Congress who has endorsed Sanders. West, who teaches philosophy at Union Theological Seminary, is supporting Sanders.
Sanders said he was satisfied with the way the committee's seats were distributed.
"We believe that we will have the representation on the platform drafting committee to create a Democratic platform that reflects the views of millions of our supporters who want the party to address the needs of working families in this country and not just Wall Street, the drug companies, the fossil fuel industry and other powerful special interests," he said in a statement.
Clinton campaign press secretary Brian Fallon also said their camp is happy with the fact that Sanders will have more input in the party platform.
"We're pleased that the upcoming Democratic Convention will ensure supporters of Senator Sanders are well represented in the drafting of the party's platform," Fallon said. "The Democratic Party historically has been a big tent, representing a diverse coalition, and Hillary Clinton is committed to continue welcoming different perspectives and ideas."
