State Rep. Ammons On Backing Bernie Sanders, The TPP, & Gov. Bruce Rauner

Hillary Clinton takes the stage in Philadelphia Thursday night to formally accept the Democratic nomination for president.  State Rep. Carol Ammons (D-Urbana) is also at her party's convention, and came to support Bernie Sanders. But the 103rd District Democrat says she's not in the 'Bernie or Bust' group, who won't support Hillary Clinton for President.  Ammons plans to follow Sanders' advice, and back Clinton, saying it's the 'best course forward.'

"He helped his delegates move forward," she said. "He was so gentle. I describe it as gentle because when you come to something like this in politics, it can be abrupt, a little shocking. But he didn't do that. He set course for us."

Ammons, who talked to Illinois Public Radio's Amanda Vinicky from the DNC Wednesday, also reacted to the Sanders delegates that left the Wells Fargo Center during the convention Tuesday night.

"They are concerned about some of (Clinton's) foreign policy decisions," she said. "I don't want us in potential war. I'm concerned about the TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership.)  I don't want to see the destruction for our environment. We need to stop very bad trade deals."

Ammons compared the TPP to NAFTA (The North American Free Trade Agreement), which she says took away jobs from middle class families when she was a young teen living in East St. Louis.

"All the industry had been moved out of the inner cities," she said. "We also (TPP) doesn't restore communities. It doesn't give living wages." 

The Democrat also touched on Illinois' economic picture, and Gov. Bruce Rauner, who she calls 'a serious disaster for our state.'