JUST IN: Debbie Wasserman Shultz Forced To Quit As DNC Chair Amid Scandal
The end has arrived for Democratic Party Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Shultz, who bowed to pressure from party leaders and was forced to resign over her continual mismanagement of the party.
Democrats had already announced they were planning to appoint her successor as party chair a bit earlier this year, but Wasserman-Shultz was still in line for significant media exposure despite a growing chorus of complaints from Sanders supporters of bias at the DNC.
Then WikiLeaks released a massive trove of internal Democratic Party emails which are trending on social media under the #DNCLeak hashtag. The emails proved that Wasserman Shultz and some DNC staffers were impermissibly biased towards Hillary Clinton during the primary season. Pointedly, the email trove also uncovered the congresswoman’s vain attempts to get an MSNBC morning anchor to rescind her call for Wasserman Shultz’s resignation in May, betraying her as thin skinned in the face of adversity.
Less than two days later, her time as the Democratic National Party chair ended unceremoniously a week early, not long after Senator Bernie Sanders called for her resignation.
Bernie Sanders calls for Wasserman Schultz to resign in wake of DNC email leaks https://t.co/YagGwUlzXC #ThisWeek pic.twitter.com/ch6MByMM6u
— ABC News (@ABC) July 24, 2016
Wasserman Shultz made headlines earlier today after being stripped of her host duties at the Democratic National Convention and was disallowed her speaking slot at the quadrennial gathering in Philadelphia which will formally nominate the presidential ticket leading in most national polls, featuring former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and newly appointed running mate former Governor and current Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA).
Opponents openly questioned Deibbe Wasserman Shultz’s liberal credentials after she took money from and supported positions favorable to predatory payday lenders, private prisons and the big alcohol interests that oppose marijuana legalization. One especially pointed criticism emerged this month after Wasserman Shultz accepted convention dollars from special interests – contrary to the rules Barack Obama set out for the 2012 campaign.
Then, the Florida congresswoman scheduled Democratic debates at off times like Saturday and Sunday nights or during popular sporting events, which drew the wrath of Bernie Sanders and many of Clinton’s supporters too, who viewed the decision as an blatant effort to starve one candidate of needed attention, and losing the opportunity to sell the Democratic Party’s brand of sane leadership to the broader public while attention was intensely focused earlier in the primary season. Three more debates in prime week nights were later arranged, but the damage to the party leader never abated.
Now, the task of being a chair who keeps the convention in order has been offered to Rep. Marcia Fudge, from Ohio, who has been named “permanent chair of the convention” according to CNN.
Debbie Wasserman Shultz will have to fight to remain active in politics beyond the next election, which will be a primary vote held on August 30th, where progressive opponent Tim Canova has raised millions after Bernie Sanders endorsed him, in a race the pundits have called a proxy for national issues.
Ultimately, Clinton and the Democratic establishment view the opportunity as a chance to replace the Democratic National Party chairperson with a fresh face who can credibly work towards unifying the party without the baggage from the mistakes Wasserman-Shultz made in this year’s primary campaign.
