By Dustin Rowles | Politics | July 24, 2016 |
By Dustin Rowles | Politics | July 24, 2016 |
As much as some of us would have loved to have a quiet, drama-free Democratic National Convention with stable, drama-free Tim Kaine as the new Vice Presidential candidate, Wikileaks refused to allow that, leaking 20,000 emails from the members of the DNC on Friday. There were not any smoking guns among the emails, per se, but there were a few emails that clearly suggested that the DNC officials favored Hillary over Bernie, even after the DNC vowed to stay neutral. Never mind that, as a private organization, the DNC has no legal obligation to remain neutral, and never mind that Bernie has never actually been a Democrat (he only ran as one), the DNC said they were neutral, and therefore they should have been what they held themselves out to be. It was unfair, unethical, and unscrupulous for them to do otherwise.
There’s no evidence that the DNC used money or actually enacted any of their plans to damage Bernie’s chances against Hillary, but it doesn’t matter. The DNC weren’t what they said they were, and someone has to take the fall. The deeply unpopular Debbie Wasserman Schultz has fallen on/been pushed on that grenade.
Hours after Bernie Sanders called for the resignation of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and after she’d had her role in the Convention stripped away, Bernie got his wish: Wasserman Schultz will be stepping down after the Convention.
.@DWStweets announces she will resign after the end of the #DNCinPHL pic.twitter.com/heQtuJHsFa
— Anthony De Rosa (@Anthony) July 24, 2016
I don’t think anyone is unhappy to see her go. The question will be: Is it enough? With the Convention kicking off tomorrow, will her resignation put a tourniquet on the bleeding, or will the bad blood between Bernie and the DNC continue throughout the Convention?
For Sanders’ part, he doesn’t seem to be shifting blame for this onto Clinton personally — at least publicly. He has not only refused to disavow his endorsement, he has doubled down by essentially endorsing Tim Kaine.
Bernie Sanders: "Tim Kaine is 100 times better than Donald Trump will ever be" https://t.co/6OZtrfIwim #CNNSOTU https://t.co/ChP8fWFf5S
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 24, 2016
The hardcore Bernie supporters on Twitter are obviously unhappy, in some cases calling for a revote. They have kept Twitter active all weekend with anti-Hillary sentiment.
I really had hoped we could have one toxic-free week of politics. It doesn’t appear we will get our wish.