Sanders aide: We’re trying to open party to ‘new blood’

Bernie Sanders’s campaign manager says the Democratic presidential candidate’s goal is to expand the Democratic Party moving forward.

“We want to open up the Democratic Party for new people, new blood, new energy and create a much bigger and more successful party,” Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said on CNN on Tuesday morning.

{mosads}Weaver said the Vermont senator’s campaign also wants to create as progressive a platform as possible for the Democratic Party heading into the general election.

“So that the message that Sen. Sanders has articulated during this campaign, which has resonated with so many people — young people, with independents, working-class people — that that becomes the position of the Democratic Party,” he said.

Sanders also wants to make sure in the future that the nominating process is opened up, Weaver said, referencing more open primaries and same-day registration. He said the Vermont senator wants to implement changes to make it “more likely that more people will participate.”

Sanders has said he plans to stay in the race until the Democratic convention, even though front-runner Hillary Clinton has a large delegate lead over him.

Sanders will receive one-third of the seats on the committee that writes the Democratic platform and is hoping to help shape the platform to align with his own progressive values.