Last Tuesday the country saw an ending to the Republican National Convention that bolstered anything but a unified GOP. Ted Cruz delivering his staple "vote your conscience" speech as he got booed off stage by loyal Trump delegates was proof that the Republican party still hasn't quite realized the division that comes along with Donald Trump as your nominee.
The failure of the GOP convention was something that liberals felt they could capitalize on. Painting Hillary Clinton's November opponent as someone who can't even run a coherent 3-day convention surely makes it easier to prove he can't run a country. The headlines of the Republican's "division" and "broken convention" came in droves in the following days.
However, as they were doing their best to smear the GOP for their inadequate leadership, it seems the Democratic National Committee forgot they, too, have a party to run. On July 22nd, Wikileaks released around 20,000 hacked emails from DNC leadership that shows just how broken the party that speaks of unity actually is.
These leaked emails show conversation between high-ranking leadership in the DNC that some worry proves that the committee favored Hillary Clinton in the primary season and pandered their party's message to align with that of big donor interests.
Bernie supporters and the Sanders campaign consistently complained about unfair treatment by the DNC that favored candidates and took the voice away from voters. How many times did we hear the phrase "Super Delegates" during primary season? Sanders claimed the DNC was intentionally difficult in responding to requests from his camp and that they treated the candidates very differently over the course of the primary election. Until now, all this was speculation. But, this email leak clearly shows that the Sanders camp and Co. had some real points of argument.
The first sign of DNC unfairness comes in emails between DNC employees that ask about "His faith" and how this could make a difference in the Kentucky and West Virginia primaries. The response from DNC CFO Brad Marshall was that "this could make several points of difference with my peeps. My southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist". This clear attempt to undercut Sanders' faith in an effort to make him the unfavorable candidate among religious voters shows blatantly a favoring of candidates in the primary election.
Additionally, it appears the DNC took advice directly from an attorney with the Clinton campaign on how to deal with the dispute between the Clinton and Sanders camp on what the Sanders campaign described as "[the Clinton campaign] not handling its fair share of fundraising" for state parties.
The email reads, "My suggestion is that the DNC put out a statement saying that the accusations the Sanders campaign are not true. The fact that CNN notes that you aren't getting between the two campaigns is the problem. Here, Sanders is attacking the DNC and its current practice...just as the RNC pushes back directly on Trump over 'rigged system,' the DNC should push back DIRECTLY at Sanders and say that what he is saying is false and harmful (to) the Democratic party."
How could this ever be a topic of discussion between party officials? The national committee of a party is in place to handle day to day party needs, NOT paint a specific picture of certain candidates to influence voters. It is OUR choice who we see as favorable and unfavorable.
The recently resigned DNC chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz also engaged in the banter calling Sanders campaign manager an "ass" and a "Damn liar" following disagreements over Nevada's handling of their primary election.
DNC officials have denied that they favored Clinton over Sanders in the primaries but the evidence speaks for itself and the abrupt resignation of DNC chair Wasserman-Schultz shows the corruption lead straight to the top.
All of this controversy shows big problems for the Democrats ahead of their national convention. As they claim to be the party of unity, this bridled division could spell the end of the establishment at the forefront of this corruption. The Democratic party had an amazing chance this election year to bring in new voters and expand their reach to all ages and opinions. However, the blatant choice to defend and favor establishment in the wake of a Sanders revolution that brought in so many new faces could be it for Democrats.
Many in the party are finding it difficult to hop on board with the Clinton campaign and this email leak only made that decision more difficult. This party has some serious work to do to bring voters like me back in because a lot of us are currently being turned away. The Democratic establishment never wanted Sanders, no matter how much support he got nationwide. Our voice was taken away. Nothing this election could be worse than a Trump victory, but the Democrats just made that look a lot more possible.
