By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
On Sunday, July 24, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Congresswoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, announced that she would resign after the Democratic National Convention after emails were leaked by the website WikiLeaks showing that she as well as top officials at the DNC were conspiring with the Hillary Clinton Campaign throughout the primary season. The DNC had already announced that they had cancelled her primetime speaking role at the convention.
Throughout the weekend, the political world was exploding with the news that Rep. Wasserman Schultz had used her position as head of the DNC to advance former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s efforts to win the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination versus U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont).
DNC Chief Financial Officer Brad Marshall suggested sending a surrogate to ask an unnamed candidate, he called a man of Jewish heritage whether that candidate believed in God.
Sen Sanders, who is Jewish and the only serious candidate for the nomination other than Clinton for some time, told CNN, “I am not an atheist. I mean, it is an outrage and sad that you would have people in important positions in the DNC trying to undermine my campaign.”
Sanders said, “It goes without saying the function of the DNC is to represent all of the candidates, to be fair and even-handed.”
Despite the stinging revelations of what many are calling a rigged process, Sanders reiterated his endorsement for Hillary Clinton and called Republican nominee, Donald Trump, “The worst Republican nominee in the modern history of this country.”
Unlike the Republican Party where New York City billionaire businessman Donald Trump cruised to victory, crushing his 16 opponents (the last of whom exited after Indiana); the Sanders vs. Clinton battle went all the way down the stretch. Clinton eventually won the majority of the pledged delegates, thanks largely to a late win in California and early massive support by Blacks in southern states like Alabama, but Sanders racked up 22 wins outside of the South. Clinton won 2,205 bound delegates to Sanders 1846. Clinton dominated the super delegates 602 to 48. Did the efforts of Wasserman Shultz and the DNC on behalf of Clinton affect the outcome? It appears doubtful, but it feeds the Republican narrative that the Democratic Primary season was a, “rigged process.”
State Representative Mike Holmes (R-Wetumpka) said on social media, “Read some of these emails! Wow if this was the RNC the media would be asking for blood! It’s a rigged system, it has to be for Clinton to win! Change and hope are only found in Trump!”
After she announced her resignation, President Obama said in a statement, “Her fundraising and organizing skills were unmatched only by her passion, her commitment and her warmth. Nobody works harder for her constituents in Congress than Debbie Wasserman Schultz.”
Presumptive Democratic Presidential Nominee Secretary Clinton said in a statement, “I want to thank my longtime friend Debbie Wasserman Schultz for her leadership of the Democratic National Committee over the past five years. 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. There’s simply no one better at taking the fight to the Republicans than Debbie–which is why I am glad that she has agreed to serve as honorary chair of my campaign’s 50-state program to gain ground and elect Democrats in every part of the country, and will continue to serve as a surrogate for my campaign nationally, in Florida, and in other key states.”
Dothan Young, Republicans Chair Cole Lawson said, “Wow that was fast! The DNC Chair is caught rigging the Democrats’ Primary against Bernie Sanders through leaked emails, and on the SAME DAY Hillary Clinton hires her onto the campaign. There’s just no words for this level of corruption.”
Clinton’s Campaign manager, Robby Mook, told ABC News’s “This Week” program that the emails may have been hacked by secret agents for the Russian government who are trying to help Donald Trump. “What’s disturbing about this entire situation is that experts are telling us that Russian state actors broke into the DNC, took all those emails and are now leaking them out through these websites,” Mook said. “It’s troubling that some experts are telling us this was done by the Russians for the purpose of helping Donald Trump.”
Alabama Democrats voted overwhelmingly for Secretary of State Clinton, but few political observers believe that she has any chance of carrying the state in the November general election.
(Original reporting by Fox News, ‘The Hill, ABC News and CNN contributed to this report)
