NPR Politics Lunchbox: Sanders Endorses Clinton, BLM Refuses RNC Protest Rules

The New York Times reports: For the first time in history, there is an openly gay member of the Republican Party's platform committee. Her name is Rachel Hoff, and she faced overwhelming opposition last night as she fought for an amendment to the party's platform draft encouraging a "thoughtful conversation" on same-sex marriage. She was politely received, but was little applauded, and her amendment failed, garnering only 30 votes from the 112-member committee. "All I ask today is that you include me and those like me," she had pleaded with the group.

USA Today reports: In protest of Cleveland authorities' protest rules, Black Lives Matter has declined to participate in the formal process to obtain permits for demonstrations at the Republican National Convention. "Applying for the right to protest takes away from the spirit of the protest movement," explained Kareem Henton, an organizer for the Cleveland grouping of Black Lives Matter. Cleveland police are bracing for what they call "unsanctioned actions" and will be handling them on a case-by-case basis.

Politico reports: Elizabeth Warren — known for her aggressive work on reforming Wall Street and big money in politics — scored a win in her battle to keep bankers out of Congress. The Democrats' draft platform now includes only appointing officials "who are not beholden to the industries they regulate." Warren and other liberal Democrats have pushed back on President Obama's appointment of financial industry associates to top jobs in Washington. And Bernie Sanders made Hillary Clinton's acceptance of large sums of cash from corporations a talking point in his campaign. However, the pledge is not abiding, as the platform is just a draft.

The Associated Press reports: The Republican Party is far behind the Democrats in its ground operations, with less than 50 percent of the staff it had planned to have in battleground states like Ohio and Pennsylvania. Four years ago, the RNC was criticized for organizing late in these states for the Romney campaign. This all comes as Donald Trump plans to rely more heavily on the party infrastructure than ever before. The GOP's ground operations will need to expand their staff quickly, and soon, in order to win November in key states where they will be facing, what Reince Priebus calls "that machine" of Clinton fundraising.

Member Station WFIU reports: Democratic nominee for Senate Baron Hill dropped out of the race on Monday. Hill said his campaign made great progress, but not enough to fight back against the out-of-state, special interests and dark money "that is certain to come our way between now and November," Hill said in a statement. In both polling and fundraising, Hill has trailed Republican Rep. Todd Young for Indiana's open U.S. Senate seat. Former Sen. Evan Bayh is set to run in Hill's place, but there's concern Bayh's absence on the ballot for 12 years will make it a difficult win.

The Hill reports: Republicans this year are moping over a plummet in event invitations for Cleveland, compared with conventions past. This damper on the party scene is in part due to a lack of sponsors — Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and others have declined to sponsor the RNC despite having done so in the past. There will still be some festivities to console the disappointed partygoers. For example, the Distilled Spirits Council and The Wall Street Journal will be hosting a party to "celebrate the spirits of Cleveland" on the first day of the convention.