DNC Chair Won't Speak At Dem Convention Following Wikileaks Fallout

[Purveyor]

Source: CNN

(CNN)The head of the Democratic National Committee will not speak at the party's convention next week, a decision reached by party officials Saturday after emails surfaced that raised questions about the committee's impartiality during the Democratic primary.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, whose stewardship of the DNC has been under fire through most of the presidential primary process, will not have a major speaking role in an effort "to keep the peace" in the party, a Democrat familiar with the decision said. The revelation comes following the release of nearly 20,000 emails

One email appears to show DNC staffers asking how they can reference Bernie Sanders' faith to weaken him in the eyes of Southern voters.

Another seems to depict an attorney advising the committee on how to defend Hillary Clinton against an accusation by the Sanders campaign of not living up to a joint fundraising agreement.

Wasserman Schultz is expected to gavel the convention in and out, but not speak in the wake of the controversy surrounding the leaked emails, a top Democrat said.

"She's been quarantined," another top Democrat said, following a meeting Saturday night.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/22/politics/dnc-wikileaks-emails/

[Sherman A1]

1. Interesting

Me thinks this is perhaps several years too late in her "stewardship" of the party, but whatever works.

[riversedge]

3. Take your comment down please. You are talking apples and oranges with NO proof and

linking them together. This is not helping our candidate get elected.

[Lunabell]

4. Totally agree.

But our posts will probably get hidden.

[Cobalt Violet]

6. Nothing is too low for the Third Way.

Disgusting.

[turbinetree]

11. Agreed----------------------disgusting---------------Third Way--------------

Honk------------------for a political revolution

[Ghost Dog]

7. Homework is for losers,

apparently.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

5. DWS is Jewish for heaven's sake. But she is old school, hardball.

Watched HBO's "John Adams" tonight. We have come a long way baby. But the conspiring of allies for power was there once Washington stepped down. We have to get real. And I hate DWS.

[merrily]

49. It's more than old school. It violates the mission of the DNC itself. It's corrupt.

Who is this "we" who has to get real? The OP article says the Hillary and Sanders' campaigns both "blessed" quarantining DWS.

As far as her being Jewish, so what?

One email appears to show DNC staffers asking how they can reference Bernie Sanders' faith to weaken him in the eyes of Southern voters. Another seems to depict an attorney advising the committee on how to defend Hillary Clinton against an accusation by the Sanders campaign of not living up to a joint fundraising agreement.

[NWCorona]

67. What does DWS being Jewish have to do with it?

[SleeplessinSoCal]

92. Do I have to spell it out? This kind of hardball politics goes back to our founding.

And correct me if I'm wrong, the DNC didn't make an issue of Bernie's atheistic Jewishness. I'm married to an atheistic Jew. There are plenty of them, and DWS IS DONE AT LONG LAST!!!

She should have been replaced in 2014. I couldn't have done more personally to get her fired. Now I have to admit she is a horrible (albeit hardworking) woman to Republicans all over the Internet. I am well and truly pissed.

But we have to win this election. And Bernie supporters have to focus on 2018 without derailing the Dem convention. Think progress.

[DLevine]

8. Good. nt

[Arazi]

9. Was she even scheduled to speak?

[LuvLoogie]

27. Right?

[TDale313]

10. Probably a good thing. n/t

[HereSince1628]

20. The bench of the DNC is bigger than DWS

There would have been another Dem in her place.

[merrily]

37. As it is, she was not the only DNC employee involved.

[HereSince1628]

44. That's very true. It's history. And that history will be dissected

and subject to investigation.

I suspect CSI/DNC is going to be a long told story in the history of the Dem party.

Even if the issue of running unbiased primaries is avoided forever, there are lots of lessons to be learned about communications security.

[merrily]

55. Absent lawsuits, dissecting history won't much matter, if the DNC remains corrupt.

And, as Anonymous* observed long ago, victors write history.

Again, absent lawsuits, but I bet the DNC has been going through its files and discarding stuff since the security breach. That is perfectly legal at this stage. I don't know at which point it becomes illicit, when a lawsuit is filed, or when discovery begins.



*Wrongly attributed to Winston Churchill.

[HereSince1628]

60. I don't think that's completely true. Party operatives, consultants, and think tanks

study the histories of campaigns, both failed and successful. It usually takes a few years for the stuff to become available so it is usually consumed cold and at their desks.

Thanks to the digital world and its vulnerabilities this time the public can see some of the burnt cookies while the smell is still in their noses.

[Vinca]

13. She needs to step down. Today.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

15. THIS is the only solution and it has to be today.

Or this story becomes a firestorm throughout the convention.

Talk about a gift for trump. Sheesh.

Hillary (or Obama) has to can her ass now.

[merrily]

39. The DNC chair is an elected position.

They usually elect whoever the head of the party recommends, but Obama is still head of the party.

[still_one]

56. a lot of folks actually don't realize that

[ChairmanAgnostic]

79. In reality, if both Obama and Hillary suggested to her to leave

I don't think she would have a choice.

What I haven't analyzed is the wiki leaks impact on her re-election race. It cannot be good.

[still_one]

80. That isn't going to happen. As for her re-election, what are you talking about? November 2016?

[PatSeg]

38. Absolutely

Not speaking at the convention will hardly be enough to placate Democrats. She should have resigned a long time ago. She is not only dishonest, she is incompetent. How many seats did we lose in 2014? Governorships and state legislatures? Since when is DNC chair a part time job anyway?

[bigdarryl]

63. Debbie is in that job because Obama wants her there

[Chakab]

68. ...and why does he want her there in spite of her incompetence?

Don't pretend that her recommendation to that position was anything but part of the series of moves that he was forced to make to placate the Clinton wing of the party after the acrimonious primary in '08.

[TryLogic]

84. That's the way I see it.

[PatSeg]

72. I don't know why she wasn't replaced

<Meanwhile, the Obama team was so serious about replacing her after 2012 that they found a replacement candidate to back before deciding against it, according to people familiar with those discussions.

Obama and Wasserman Schultz have rarely even talked since 2011. They don’t meet about strategy or messaging. They don’t talk much on the phone.

Instead, the DNC chairwoman stakes out the president of the United States at the end of photo lines at events and fundraisers.>


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/09/democrats-debbie-wasserman-schultz-111077#ixzz4FKlxCQow
Follow us: @politico on Twitter | Politico on Facebook

The article goes on to say that Wasserman Schultz was not included in strategy talks with the president and that the administration did not want her there.

She rubbed a lot of people the wrong way when she kept trying to get the DNC to pay for her clothes when she attended the DNC convention and the Correspondent's Dinner.

[katsy]

41. I will always support SBS in any role he serves.

I'm supporting Clinton/Kaine now & so is SBS.

Fuck no heads shouldn't roll now.

1. Swearing at or about candidates doesn't bother me nor am i naive enough to think anyone can be impartial at any time nevermind primary season.

2. Dws should be replaced whether or not the primary was rigged against SBS. She's toxic. Everyone involved in making plans to use SBS's non-belief an issue or any other nasty plotting should never work in a campaign again. At least not for us.

3. Shut this noise down. Give no ammo to trump. Draw blood after the election. If we should be so lucky, maybe SBS will, by his forgiveness of these actions, stop this drama.

Nothing, no amount of corruption or subterfuge by the dnc is worth risking the supreme court this election. None. Offer up dnc heads post election and mute this noise now.

[oxymoron]

58. Agree 100%. She needs to resign now. nt

[Dustlawyer]

66. Yes! She should go just for supporting her Republican friends over Democrats running

for office. If you are the head of the DNC you should be supporting all Democrats running for office. You cannot get on the slippery slope of picking and choosing which Dems get DNC support and which do not!

[RandiFan1290]

14. She is subversive.

Does she ever try to help Democrats get elected?

[Laser102]

16. Oh no! The head of the Democratic Party favors the Democratic candidate over the independent!!!

Outrage!! Horrors!! I'm shocked!!! LOL

[stonecutter357]

21. +1000

[merrily]

34. Please see Reply 30. Thanks.

[Laser102]

43. There was no fixing. No special privileges. Just a lot of whining when the other guy didn't win.

Law suits for this and that. Perceived persecution complex. I had candidates that didn't win. I never accused the party of being in the bag for this person or that. Hillary is the candidate. Do whatever you want. It won't change that.

[Red Knight]

51. Even the APPEARANCE of any of that is bad.

And certainly the late debates were set up for Hillary. All I want is for DWS to step down. She is an embarrassment to the party.

I am a Democrat but I care about the party and that means holding it accountable when it screws up. I will never be the type of Democrat who puts a "D" on his hat and treats the party like a religion. I see Republicans do that and it disgusts me. This party has to be better than that.

[NWCorona]

69. Yeah the DNC working with the media on Hillary's behalf is nothing

[TryLogic]

86. No fixing? No special privileges? Nonsense!

[PatSeg]

42. The job of a DNC chair

is to get Democrats elected and not just the presidential candidate of her choice. She is not good at her job and there were many, including Obama, who wanted to get rid of her a few years ago. We need a full time DNC chair person who puts the party before his/her own political ambitions.

[AllyCat]

17. Doesn't get to speak? I was hoping she was losing her chair.

We knew she was doing this, yet nothing happened. The process was less than transparent.

[merrily]

33. Tim Canova for Congress.

https://timcanova.com/

[TryLogic]

87. Absoluely! This may be the only way to send the message effectively. I have been donating to his

campaign -- from Colorado.

[merrily]

98. Well, I am sure DWS will be fine, no matter what. Howard Dean and Tim Kaine

sure were. Many members of the House and the Senate also get very good lobbying-type jobs, even after they lose support from constituents. Cantor, Dodd and Lieberman leap to mind. And, of course, many do very well, beyond their statutory salaries, while still in office.

[stonecutter357]

18. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is doing a fine job and not going anywhere.

[truebluegreen]

36. So far she has done a fine job of electing Republicans.

[mdbl]

46. seriously

you would have to have blinders on to now see she hasn't done anything to get Dems elected.

[truebluegreen]

53. unfortunately there are lots of blinders out there nt

[Crepuscular]

74. ...

She is doing a fine job of alienating a bunch of millennial voters, whose support is vital in the upcoming election.

[stonecutter357]

75. millennial voters lol.

[Crepuscular]

76. ...

Yeah, dismissing them out of hand is sure to help secure the election.

[stonecutter357]

78. after all millennial voters won the Primaries for Bernie.

[Crepuscular]

81. ...

So HRC can afford to dismiss millions of potential votes? Alienating younger voters is a sure recipe for political disaster, maybe not in this cycle but it will bear tainted fruit in future elections. Your willingness to dismiss those voters out of hand speaks volumes.

[Jon Ace]

82. Don't worry, millennials will be the scapegoat if Trump wins...

n/t

[RandiFan1290]

19. Didn't she refuse to campaign against other republicons in Florida

Because they are friends of hers?

[merrily]

32. I thought she campaigned FOR her Florida Republican friends?

That's what I've always read on DU anyway.

[Ruby the Liberal]

22. Oh no! Who will address the plight of payday lenders?

[merrily]

31. Hint. NOT Tim Canova and, thanks to Canova, not DWS, either.

https://timcanova.com/

[uhnope]

23. score one for the Russian hackers

probably paid by Putin

[onehandle]

24. She'll be speaking when she's gaveling the convention in and out. In other words...

...running the convention.

Very little difference.

[Ruby the Liberal]

70. Seriously?

She is running for reelection and just lost a speaking spot in front of 10s of millions of viewers. You think "running the convention" is the same impact?

[onehandle]

71. She is going to be re-elected easily and will still be on stage a lot.

A 20 minute speech will not make a difference.

[kacekwl]

25. Good, she has nothing to add at all so

let's win this freaking thing and address this b.s. afterwords.

[paleotn]

26. I'm shocked, I tell you, shocked!!!

So the Democratic Party should be run like the Sisters of Blessed Mary the Meek? Good god, folks. Can we move on? We've got a fascist to defeat in November. As the old saying goes...if you want friend in Washington, get a dog.

[merrily]

30. Yes, the DNC is supposed to be neutral. That should not shock anyone.

[paleotn]

94. Yes, they SHOULD be.....

...but no political party in this country has ever been truly fair and neutral and it was once far, far worse than today. Regardless, our primary objective has to be to unify to beat das Reichsfuhrer, Donald Trump. That ass hat can do serious damage for all of us and his only path to the White House is division in the Democratic party. Not only does he have to beaten, he and his merry band of racist totalitarians must be completely and totally crushed in November. We are not going to accomplish that via circular firing squad.

[merrily]

97. 0 for 3. I don't think you can support your statement that no political party in this country

has ever been "truly neutral" in a primary; the DNC went well beyond not "truly neutral" this time; and "Tommy did it, too" has never been a good or relevant excuse, anyway.

[PatSeg]

45. I think we can "clean house"

AND defeat a fascist at the same time. DWS should not be swept under the rug.

[paleotn]

95. I would hope so....

...but I'm not willing to take that chance. The true believers may not stop stirring the shit, may wander off, pout and not vote, or vote third party. We did that in 2000 and ended up with thousands upon thousands dead and the Middle East turned into the biggest cluster imaginable. Das Reichsfuhrer makes Dubya look like a toddler. We must not just beat Trump, he must be crushed so thoroughly that his ilk crawl back under their damn rocks.

[PatSeg]

96. I think it could be worse

if the party did not address it. Doing it now gives us time to pull together. There may be some who won't get on board, but that is true with every election. Meanwhile, there could be more email dumps. Better to take care it now.

[Bluenorthwest]

64. You know the reason you need to get a dog to have a friend in DC is that the culture stinks.

That's not a good thing you know. That saying means 'No one here is loyal, decent nor true and further everyone here is fully committed to that backstabbing, amoral way of life and anyone who suggests basic ethics or propriety is an idiot".
Attitudes like that are why we have abysmal turnout and apathy all around.

[paleotn]

93. Yes....

...and you know when it started stinking? Roughly December, 1800. I'm not saying it's good, it's simply the way it is right now and has been for a long, long time. Does it need to be fixed? Damn right it does. Is it going to happen overnight? Hell no. But first things first. We ALL have a fascist to defeat in November and running around like a bunch of damn house cats isn't going to get it done. I'm as much a Bernie supporter as you, I'd wager, but I'm also a staunch pragmatist. We've got to prioritize and quite the internal bullshit. It's like people are arguing about how the furniture is arranged while the damn house is on fire. Prioritize, please!

[RKP5637]

28. Excellent!!! n/t

[merrily]

29. Tim Canova for Congress

https://timcanova.com/

[JoePhilly]

40. Still fighting the primary.

[Matt_in_STL]

47. No, fighting corruption and incompetence within our party apparatus

[JoePhilly]

50. yea, ok. Will DWS still be DNC head in 2020?

Is there any chance of that?

Here's an idea ... maybe the perpetually disgruntled should start working to engage the DNC and bring forward new leaders directly.

Na. That would take real work and endlessly complaining is so much easier.

[Matt_in_STL]

54. So let's just ignore it because the same people won't involved in 2020?

I bet you told everyone in 2004 not to worry about Bush being reelected because he wouldn't be President in 2009. To just get over it and not worry about it. Corruption is corruption and, if not addressed, spreads and becomes commonplace. If you don't care about ethical lapses in your own house you can't complain about them elsewhere.

[JoePhilly]

57. What a load of nonsense.

Here's my bet ... in a week or so ... you and the others here complaining, won't mention the DNC until the next GE, when you'll start whining about it again.

And you will do nothing to change the DNC between now and then.

You'll just find something else to complain about.

[Matt_in_STL]

61. Oh, I'll do what I can, starting with my vote against DWS next month

[JoePhilly]

65. ok.

[bluedye33139]

48. Not Wasserman Schultz's biggest fan

But I've always felt very defensive when non-Democrats attack her. Or when people think somehow they can remove her from her legitimately chosen position and replace her with someone else who will turn the party into a different party.

It's always seemed to me that she was put in her official role because other Democrats who worked with her thought she could get it done.

She's not the most inspirational speaker however. I can see taking her off the speaker list.

[deathrind]

52. She should have lost her...

Position a long time ago. Not only because of the bias displayed during this primary but also for the staggering losses in state legislature seats and governorships across the country since her taking the chair.

[cally]

59. She needs to go now!

Dems have lost since she took over. She's a horrible surrogate and dividing our party.

[OnDoutside]

62. Nina Turner is on MSNBC with her usual faux outrage against the Democratic Party.

[raindaddy]

73. There are millions of people who invested their time and money working for Bernie Sanders.

And the sight of Debbie Wasserman Schultz might be a negative reminder that behind the curtain their candidate was being undermined by the governing body of the Democratic party.

[AngryAmish]

77. "Quarantined" is vaguely anti-Semitic.

[hollowdweller]

83. Would love to see Clinton return DEAN to the DNC

[oxymoron]

85. Well, those boos she gets when she's onstage are sure going to make awesome TV.

[TryLogic]

88. Someone please boo for me. Maybe that will send the necessary message.

[wildbilln864]

89. DWS

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz will not speak at or preside over the party's convention this week, a decision reached by party officials Saturday after emails surfaced that raised questions about the committee's impartiality during the Democratic primary.

The DNC Rules Committee on Saturday rescinded Wasserman Schultz's position as convention chairwoman, instead naming Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, as permanent chair of the convention, according to a DNC source.

[DirkGently]

90. Says a lot. n/t.

[Land Shark]

91. Quite appropriate, and both Clinton and Sanders camps agree