On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” The Hill‘s Senior Reporter Alexander Bolton stated that DNC Chair Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) has “been in the tank for Hillary” and that the talk that she should step down “isn’t coming from Sanders supporters, it’s coming from very staunch, pro-Hillary supporters.”
Bolton said of Wasserman Schultz, “Yeah, she’s been in the tank for Hillary. And I think what’s surprising about what I found out, reporting last week and this week, is that, this talk that she needs to step down isn’t coming from Sanders supporters, it’s coming from very staunch, pro-Hillary supporters. They see her as a drag on Hillary, because the problem that Hillary has, in their view, is that there’s an enthusiasm gap, people, Democrats, and especially young voters, who are an important constituency, aren’t very enthusiastic about Clinton. Well, Debbie Wasserman Schultz has become the face of the rigged system, as Bernie Sanders sees it. And they think it’s going to be tough for these younger voters to embrace Hillary while Debbie Wasserman Schultz is the face of the party. The other thing they’re concerned about, is a messy convention in Philadelphia, and they’re worried about a replay of 1968 convention, and those fears really hit home after the state convention in Nevada, where you had these violent outbursts, these angry demonstrations, and then Debbie Wasserman Schultz poured fuel on the fire by criticizing Bernie Sanders very harshly. … So, and — I think she’ll really — what these pro-Clinton Democrats are worried about is not so much whether Bernie will endorse Hillary, they think that’ll happen, but they’re worried about getting supporters to embrace her enthusiastically.”
When asked, “Do you believe, in all your reporting, that the DNC has been fair to Bernie Sanders in this process?” Bolton responded, “I don’t think so. From having followed the campaign, there are a number of examples. The scheduling of the televised debates during times that aren’t likely to draw big audiences, freezing his access to that key voter database before the Iowa and New Hampshire caucus and primary, characterizing it as a theft of data, when really that isn’t what happened. Those are things that set the tone early. And then you had this joint fundraising committee between the DNC and the Clinton campaign, that’s something that sanders saw as very unfair, and so did his supporters. So, I think there are a number of data points that sanders folks can point to, quite convincingly.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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