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DNC Chair Won’t Speak At Convention To Appease Progressives, But Is It Enough?

By Mohit Priyadarshi
Published on: 01:37 PST, Jul 24, 2016

In what appears to be a last-ditch attempt to appease progressive voters before the Democratic National Convention kicks off in Philadelphia on Monday, the top brass at the DNC has decided that its chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, won’t speak at the convention.

The decision comes on the heels of the outrage that has engulfed the Democratic Party after Wikileaks on Friday released nearly 20,000 emails exchanged between top DNC officials, which showed how the DNC had colluded with the Clinton campaign to mock, derail and sabotage Bernie Sanders’ campaign throughout the course of the primary season and even earlier.

The emails confirm what the progressives at the party have long suspected — that the DNC chair and its top officials clearly favored Clinton during the nominating process, and in doing so, violated its own charter which makes it necessary for the DNC to remain unbiased towards the party’s presidential candidates.

In particular, the ire of the progressives is directed at DNC chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who has been accused of favoritism by a large section of Democratic voters in the past. As the Inquisitr reported in May, the accusations against Schultz are grave and solemn, including that she set up televised debates on weekends to keep Hillary Clinton insulated, blocked Sanders’ campaign from accessing the Democratic Party voter database in December, and in Sanders’ campaign manager Jeff Weaver’s words, “threw shade” at the Vermont senator’s campaign since he announced his candidacy last year.

On her part, Schultz has done virtually nothing to allay those fears. On the contrary, her disparaging comments against Bernie Sanders and his supporters have added fuel to the fire, giving credibility to allegations that Schultz has been biased in her support for Hillary Clinton.

In fact, as reported yesterday, in response to an email Luis Miranda wrote to Schultz after CNN had reportedly aired a section where Bernie Sanders had said that he would oust the chairwoman if he were elected, Schultz says that Miranda need not worry because Bernie “isn’t going to be president,” according to The New York Times.

And now, amidst fear that letting her speak at the convention could lead to protests and eventual chaos, DNC’s brass has decided to keep her away from the stage. Speaking to CNN, a DNC top official confirmed the report, saying Debbie Wasserman Schultz has “been quarantined” to prevent chaos at the floor of the convention.

While the DNC might believe that such a step could go some way in limiting the damage that has already been unleashed on a section of party voters, the truth is that a move to block Schultz from speaking at the convention is only cosmetic in nature, done in order to appease disgruntled voters within the party.

In reality, it does not appear like the DNC, or Hillary Clinton, are interested in appeasing progressives. Because if that was the case, the DNC would have ousted Schultz when the allegations were first leveled against her, or at least launched an impartial investigation looking at her role during the primary season; the DNC would have issued an unconditional apology to progressive voters and admitted that its processes lacked accountability; the DNC, now that the Wikileaks release clearly shows that it colluded with Clinton’s campaign, would have taken strict action against the DNC officials implicated in the emails.

And yet, there is no word from the DNC at all, except to say that Debbie Wasserman Schultz won’s speak at the convention.

If Hillary Clinton really wanted to bring progressives back on board, she would not have selected her “kind of guy” — Timothy Kaine — to be her running mate. As John Atchenson summed up in his column for Common Dreams, if anything, Hillary Clinton’s vice presidential pick shows that she doesn’t care about progressives.

“But Kaine’s appointment tells us something else – Clinton’s brief feint to the left wasn’t for real. Kaine is obviously a dog whistle to show Big Banks and Wall Street that her tough talk during the campaign wasn’t to be taken seriously.

“Now it’s likely that turnouts for a Presidential race will be higher, but by how much, and the real question is how will it be enough for her to win, after this appointment?

“With Clinton’s lead at about 4 percent in polls, taking an action that was certain to shrink the turnout was either arrogant, stupid, or demonstrative of someone who is so out of touch with the plight of the average American as to be clueless. Beyond that, it’s irresponsible. Giving a candidate as heinous as Trump a shot at the Presidency raises the question of whether she has the judgement to serve as President.”

It is little wonder, then, that #Demexit appears like the last resort to progressives tired with Clinton’s — and the DNC’s — utter lack of accountability. And based on evidence, neither Hillary Clinton, nor Schultz or the DNC itself, would be too bothered by the exodus.

[Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images]

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hillary clinton bernie sanders Debbie Wasserman Schultz
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