After a week of plagiarism, metaphorical middle fingers and authoritarian-esque acceptance speeches at the Republican National Convention it seemed like we were entering into a much calmer gathering at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia this week.
However in the wake of another democratic email scandal, this time involving high ranking officials within the DNC and their active attempts of sabotage of the Bernie Sanders campaign, we could be entering a wildfire this week in Philly.
Friday, WikiLeaks released over 19,000 emails between DNC officials, including chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz that showed a very clear attempt to bring down the Bernie Sanders campaign and essentially hand the democratic primary to Hillary Clinton.
Some of these emails include Wasserman-Schultz calling a top Sanders aide a ‘damn liar’, attacks on Sanders’ religious beliefs and trying to destroy his character by saying ‘he never ever had his act together’ while also stating his campaign was ‘a mess’.
Leaked email shows DNC chairwoman called top Sanders aide a "damn liar" https://t.co/XJpsDiNk1c pic.twitter.com/buUBgYuLRx
— The Hill (@thehill) July 23, 2016
216 years after Jefferson was attacked for it, it's still bad to be an atheist in US politcs https://t.co/YlipgWRpn9 pic.twitter.com/3CqTr91jeo
— Jon Schwarz (@schwarz) July 22, 2016
Leaked DNC emails reveal testy exchanges about the @BernieSanders campaign. https://t.co/7yakNyubak pic.twitter.com/qvSSc34ryp
— The Intercept (@theintercept) July 22, 2016
I don’t think it was any huge secret the DNC had their favorite in Hillary Clinton when it came to the democratic primaries. Wasserman-Shultz and the rest of the top DNC officials I’m sure had the general belief that the American public would’ve been totally turned off by a self-proclaimed democratic socialist and simply cast Sanders aside. There shouldn’t be any question that along with Sanders, Martin O’Malley, Lincoln Chafee and Jim Webb were seen as empty candidates by the DNC to make it seem like there was some competition for Clinton while the democratic party planned her coronation.
So the big question may be heading into the big DNC event in Philly is what will Bernie Sanders do when he takes to the stage to address the crowd? The Vermont senator just a couple of weeks ago endorsed Clinton, almost reluctantly.
In light of these emails proving an active attempt sabotage the Sanders campaign, will Sanders in a way withdraw his endorsement for Hillary Clinton or sugarcoat attacks on her much like Ted Cruz did at the RNC? What about the Sanders delegates on the convention floor? Will they cause uproar that could put a bigger wedge between Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporters? Lets not get things twisted here, Clinton will be the nominee at the convention so don’t think there’ll be some revolt on the floor that’ll result in a Bernie Sanders nomination, it doesn’t quite work like that on the democratic side of things.
Ultimately, Bernie Sanders probably won’t withdraw any support for Hillary Clinton. In general these emails more than likely aren’t any news to him or his campaign. The biggest concern for the DNC and Hillary Clinton may be compromising the work they’ve done to get Sanders supporters in the fold.
Perhaps Jill Stein could be the biggest beneficiary of this massive DNC fuck-up.