Furious protesters almost drowned out Debbie Wasserman Schultz’ speech to her home state delegation Monday, crowding the stage and screaming, “You’re ruining our democracy!”
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“I don’t believe that they have her here and they want us to unify”.
“My first priority has always been serving the people of the 23rd district of Florida and I look forward to continuing to do that as their member of Congress for years to come”, she said.
Ohio’s Michael Skindell, a Sanders delegate, said Monday he plans to “strongly support the nominee of the party”.
President Obama, who appointed Wasserman Schultz in 2011, praised her service, saying the Florida congresswoman’s “leadership of the DNC has meant that we had someone who brought Democrats together”.
A CNN/ORC opinion poll on Monday gave Trump a three-point lead over former secretary of state Clinton, 48 percent to her 45 percent in a two-way presidential matchup.
If Granholm were to get the nod, it would make sense: She has always been an ally of Hillary Clinton and backed her in the 2008 campaign she lost to Barack Obama. The truth likely resides somewhere in between, but Wasserman Schultz has been given a safe harbor, having earned a berth inside the Clinton campaign for her troubles. Mitchell added that the chaos that erupted this morning will cause a lot of soul searching among party leaders as to whether Wasserman Schultz should be allowed to gavel-in the convention and run the risk of an increased backlash on a night that is supposed to be about party unity.
With the Democratic National Convention about to get underway in Philadelphia, there was widespread belief that it would be best for Wasserman Schultz to exit swiftly in order to help the party move on as fast as possible from the unflattering distraction.
The DNC rules committee has named Representative Marcia Fudge from OH as the new chair of the four-day convention.
With some fellow Democrats already growing frustrated with Wasserman Schultz’s performance, it came under even more scrutiny during the 2016 primary season as supporters of Bernie Sanders accused the chairwoman of being partial to Hillary Clinton.
In one email out of the 20,000 leaked, the committee’s chief financial officer, Brad Marshall, appears to float an idea to question the Vermont senator’s Jewish faith.
“I can’t say what is going to definitely happen, there is just a general feeling of unease and unhappiness and distrust”, said Maggie Kain, a Sanders delegate from Rhode Island.
“Not welcome, absolutely unwelcome”, said another woman who also identified as a Sanders’ supporter. But Sanders’ aides reached out to the Clinton campaign Monday afternoon to express concerns that the chairwoman’s ouster wouldn’t be enough to keep supporters from disrupting the convention, according to a Democratic official.
“You will see me every day until November 8th on the campaign trail”, she pledged.
Clinton has had a long-standing relationship with the DNC and Schultz.
Wasserman Schultz will still remain a superdelegate through her position as a member of Congress.
Still, Sanders and others feel that the DNC chair should remain neutral during a nominating process.
“I think we would have had Bernie Sanders for President”.
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Moments after the convention opened in Philadelphia, the DNC also apologized to Sanders and his backers “for the inexcusable remarks made over email”.
