Work continues inside the convention hall before the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. | AP Photo The fights before the convention fight in Philadelphia Everything you need to know about the weeklong battle over the future of the Democratic Party.

PHILADELPHIA — For supporters of Bernie Sanders, this weekend could be the last opportunity to leave their fingerprints on the Democratic Party platform.

Most of the major policy battles between Sanders and presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton have been decided. Sanders has lost on the question of inserting sharper language opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership but he claimed victory over pushing Clinton to embrace a $15 federal minimum wage. Still, two of the biggest Democratic Party reforms on Sanders' wishlist — overhauling the superdelegate system and opening up Democratic primaries and caucuses to Independents and Republicans— are likely to come up for debate at the Democratic National Convention's Rules Committee meeting on Saturday here at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. There, Sanders supporters will also watch closely for any foul play from former Rep. Barney Frank, one of the committee's co-chairs and a regular critic of the Vermont senator. Earlier in the year, Sanders' campaign took steps to oust Frank as chairman of the committee, arguing that the liberal firebrand is unfairly biased against Sanders. If Frank makes any procedural moves Sanders supporters and pro-Sanders committee members feel are unfair, they say they're ready to pounce.


Meanwhile, on Sunday, members on the Credentials Committee convene for the final pre-convention meeting of the three Democratic National Convention Standing Committees. That meeting is expected to be a sleepier affair but there's still a possibility of a fight over a last-minute challenge for the Rules committee.



The larger question hanging over both of these committee meetings is if there's any fight left in Sanders supporters. Are they satisfied enough with the Democratic platform draft to let it sail smoothly through the convention without any kind of floor fight as Sanders vowed before endorsing in mid-July.

Here's what to watch for:

THE RULES COMMITTEE

Of the three standing committees, the Rules Committee has gotten the most attention. It's where advocates of eliminating or, at the very least, reworking the superdelegate system, are hoping to make that change for future presidential elections. The committee is chaired by the outspoken Frank, who's been eager to snark about Sanders' candidacy and his efforts to push the party to the left. Sanders' supporters problem with Frank is less policy based (Frank himself would like to scrap the superdelegate system) and more related to the fact that he's been one of the most outspoken critics of the Vermont senator.

Removing Frank as co-chair is unlikely. Instead, the major debates will be over Sanders' push to weaken the role of superdelegates in the next presidential primary, and to open up Democratic presidential primaries or caucuses so that registered Independents and Republicans can vote.

Superdelegates: The good news for superdelegate reform advocates is there's support among both backers of Sanders and Clinton. Pro-Sanders surrogates like Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Clinton surrogates like Frank and Sen. Elizabeth Warren have all said they don't support the superdelegate system in its current form. Sanders himself wants to abolish the superdelegate system completely but he's also suggested that, at the very least, they should be required to align their support with the results of state primaries and caucuses. In June, Gabbard launched a petition to eliminate superdelegates in future presidential elections. Maine state Rep. Dianne Russell, an outspoken proponent of eliminating superdelegates, announced that an amendment to abolish superdelegates has 52 co-sponsors as of Wednesday. Progressive outside groups and organizations like Democracy for America, MoveOn and the Progressive Democrats of America have signed on to a letter supporting an effort to eliminate superdelegates as well.

Sanders supporters are eager to debate the issue.

"As a matter of having a more representative democracy with broader constituencies having a voice, to me it makes a lot of sense," former Massachusetts Sen. Paul G. Kirk, a Sanders surrogate, said of a potential Rules Committee debate to abolish superdelegates.

Rules Committee members expect the superdelegate issue to dominate the Saturday meeting.

"I anticipate that there will be a vigorous conversation about the rules of superdelegates. I don't necessarily think it'll be anything out of hand or improper etc.," said one Clinton-aligned Rules Committee member.

Open primaries and caucuses: One of Sanders' biggest gripes this year was primary contests where Independents and Republicans couldn't vote. Clinton usually beat Sanders in those contests so Sanders, in the waning days of his campaign, began to demand the Democratic Party open up all primaries and caucuses to non-Democratic voters.

Frank expects the Rules Committee meeting to focus on opening up Democratic caucuses and primaries, in addition to the superdelegate question.

"I don't think there were controversies about anything else. So we should have plenty of time to debate those," Frank said. But the former Massachusetts congressman added that any effort to change his party's primary and caucus system is unlikely.

"We can as a Democratic Party abolish the ex-officio delegates," Frank said, referring to another name for superdelegates. "We cannot open participation in primaries or move from caucuses to primaries as a party."

Any efforts to change the primary system faces a serious hurdle, Frank noted: the Congressional Black Caucus, has expressed strong opposition to any change to the primary or caucus system or a push to abolish superdelegates.

In a private conference call of Rules committee members hosted by Clinton campaign officials on Monday night one DNC committee member said the CBC's argument made sense and asked if the Clinton team expected a heated debate over it during the Saturday meeting.

"There are a number of issues that I should have mentioned that we do expect will be part of the debate and that will definitely be one of them," Clinton campaign deputy delegate operations team director Jed Ober said during the call.

New committee leadership: Sanders DNC committee members and the campaign itself once vowed to push hard to oust Platform Committee co-chairman Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy from their respective seats of the two standing committees. Both Democrats strongly support Clinton and have been outspoken critics of Sanders. But the view in Sanders' political orbit is that Malloy was undeniably fair at the earlier Platform Committee proceedings.

"We were armed and ready if Malloy did anything that was perceived as biased," a top Sanders aide said. "We had, in our back pocket, the move that we would need to bring at the meeting some kind of disqualification. But quite frankly, from my perspective, he did an awesome job."

As for the Rules Committee, unless Frank goes out of his way to undercut Sanders' aligned-committee members, there won't be an effort to remove him.

THE CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE

Members of the Credentials Committee say any serious conflict during its Sunday meeting would be a big surprise. The sense among both Sanders and Clinton committee members is that any notable debate over the weekend will happen on the Rules Committee.

"I think the Rules [Committee] is where something's going to happen," Credentials Committee member Moses Mercado said.

The Credentials Committee handles certifying delegates and any challenges to DNC credentialing. Thus far, members of the committee have said it's been one of the more quieter episodes in the entire DNC convention process.

"This is one of the quietest committee meetings that we've had since I've been on the Credentialing Committee," said Credentials Committee member Johnnie Patton. Patton also said "we have not been told if we have challenges. We may have two or three."

There are a few challenges based on gender balance before the committee, another top Sanders aide said, but the expectation is that those challenges will be resolved by their Sunday meeting. Both the aide and Patton said they had not gotten the specifics on the challenges.

"I would not be surprised if decisions get rendered on those challenges before the Credentials Committee meets," the aide said. "Which would mean that they would have to be procedural decisions —'you were too late', 'you don't have standing' — that they would just get slapped away. That's the way the DNC operates. I would think there's going to be a great impulse by the DNC to clear the decks so that nothing happens at the Credentials meeting."