The head of the Democratic Party resigned on Sunday amid a furor over embarrassing leaked emails, hoping to head off a growing rebellion by Bernie Sanders supporters on the eve of the convention to nominate Hillary Clinton for the White House.
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In a statement laying out the goals of this election cycle she wrote: “The best way for me to accomplish those goals is to step down as Party Chair at the end of this convention”.
The Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia this week is fertile fundraising ground for one Florida congressional candidate, but not in the traditional sense of high-priced donor dinners or lobbyist happy hours.
The leak exploded on social media with Sanders supporters expressing anger and frustration that the emails appeared to suggest the party was colluding with the Clinton campaign and plotting against the senator. Bernie Sanders in the primary.
Wasserman Schultz has been a lightning rod throughout the presidential campaign for criticism from the party’s more liberal wing, with Sanders repeatedly accusing the national party of favoring Clinton despite officially being neutral.
Clinton has had a long-standing relationship with the DNC and Debbie Wasserman Schultz. “I think we need new leadership of the Democratic Party”, Sanders explained, “that is going to open up that party to working people and to young people-to have that kind of vitality we need to not only win the presidency, but also gain control of the Senate and the House as well”.
The minority leader said she’d always opposed superdelegates and praised Sanders for staying in the race through the California primary in June because he helped boost turnout that resulted in more down-ballot Democrats finishing in the state’s top-two primary system.
Others included President Barack Obama’s wife, Michelle Obama.
Emails posted to the website Wikileaks show that at least some DNC officials were looking at ways to undercut Sanders’ campaign, including questioning his religious beliefs.
Experts say the DNC emails bear evidence of passing through Russian hands and look to be efforts by the Russians to first, cover their tracks and cast doubt on their role in the hack, and second, influence the USA election towards Donald Trump, who has spoken favorable of Russian President Vladimir Putin and advocated weakening North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Honkala was Stein’s running mate in 2012 and had seen her initial permit application rejected. But many Democrats had privately lost confidence in her leadership as well. She will not preside over the convention nor will she have a speaking role in it. Fox News reports that “she was slated to make opening remarks at a rules committee meeting Saturday, but never showed up”. Mrs. Obama’s address all but wiped away earlier tumult in the convention hall that had exposed lingering tensions between Clinton and Sanders supporters. I am grateful to Debbie for getting the Democratic Party to this year’s historic convention in Philadelphia, and I know that this week’s events will be a success thanks to her hard work and leadership.
“We know Debbie. No one has been more of a fighter and a champion for our values than Debbie Wasserman Schultz”.
“She should resign, period”, Sanders told ABC’s “This Week”.
Republican nominee Donald Trump tweeted himself Sunday, boasting about Priebus (and misspelling Wasserman Schultz’s last name).
The furor was a blow to a party keen on projecting stability in contrast to the volatility of Republican candidate Donald Trump, who was formally nominated at a raucous convention in Cleveland last week.
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“The emails just proved what we believed to begin with”, Dora Bouboulis of Vermont told AFP as she marched in a Philadelphia demonstration.
