Monday night’s program was created to appeal to liberals in the party, with speeches from Sanders and Sen.
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Norman Solomon, coordinator of an independent network of Sanders delegates, said that Wasserman Schultz’s resignation doesn’t represent “her being tossed overboard by Hillary Clinton”, noting that she’ll have a role with the campaign. Several of her supporters stood on chairs and waved T-shirts bearing her name, while some yelled at the Sanders’ supporters to step back or sit down. “I honestly believe that I need for them to understand that they are a part of this party and we want them to be a part of this party”.
Who better to unify the Democratic Party than the democratic socialist who’s called for a political revolution.
It was predicted months ago that the DNC would find some way to squash Bernie Sanders’ revolution and assuage his supporters into voting for Clinton, says Arvin Vohra, vice chair of the Libertarian National Committee.
The party announced Monday it would kick off its convention with a lineup of speakers aimed at easing the tensions. Chuck Schumer and Massachusetts Sen.
Michelle Obama is scheduled to speak on Monday, followed by former President Bill Clinton on Tuesday.
The kickoff lineup had always been meant to appeal to the party’s restive liberal wing, but that task has become unexpectedly urgent by the trove of 19,000 leaked emails. After a series of denials and suggestions the Clinton campaign was propping up the controversy, a Trump Organization staffer eventually acknowledged the error and took the blame. Lots of them expressed their support for a previous runner, Bernie Sanders.
Trump said in a Tweet Monday that reports of Russia releasing the emails because Russian President Vladimir Putin likes him is “the new joke in town”.
It wasn’t immediately clear how WikiLeaks received copies of the internal Democratic emails. Party officials learned in late April that their systems had been attacked after they discovered malicious software on their computers.
Republicans relished Democrats’ pre-convention tumult, just days after they bumped and bumbled through their convention, unsuccessfully trying to paper over their own division. Trump declared on Twitter: “The Dems Convention is cracking up”.
Interviews with some of the 63 delegates pledged to Sanders in the OH delegation revealed disappointment and anger about the DNC putting its thumb on the scale for Clinton, but most said they still will back her as the nominee. Still many delegates, and Sanders himself, said they planned to fall in line, mindful of the Republican alternative.
In addition to changing perceptions about Clinton, a goal of the convention is to create a portrait of party unity in contrast to the GOP convention, something that may be made more hard following the Wikileaks email release that some Sanders supporters say confirms the party was working against the Vermont senator. President Barack Obama will speak on Wednesday night.
But Wasserman Schulz’s plans to open the convention Monday afternoon – risking more boos on live television – raised the possibility of further drama. Although Clinton’s campaign manager Robby Mook said he believes Russian Federation should be blamed for the scandal.
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Trump’s senior policy adviser Paul Manafort called statements by the Clinton campaign “pretty desperate”. And the meaning of the National Basketball Association moving the All Star game out of North Carolina.
