In a year where Hillary Clinton appeared to be headed toward a comfortable nomination, and the Republican Party seemed embroiled in a 17-person brawl to a contested convention, the fortunes have seemingly changed. The Republican Primary is, for all intents and purposes, over, and we haven’t even hit June yet. On the Democratic side, however, the emotions are running high as Bernie Sanders vows to press on toward California and refuses calls to exit the race.
Following the nail-biter victory for Hillary Clinton last night in Kentucky, and Bernie’s win in Oregon, the tension over the race is becoming palpable for many Democrats. Mediaite reports:
Democratic pundits Bill Press and Hilary Rosen butted heads on CNN’s New Day Wednesday over Bernie Sanders’ fight with the Democratic Party, with the rhetoric getting somewhat personal at times.
“I personally think [DNC Chair] Debbie Wassermann Schultz should learn some lessons from [RNC Chair] Reince Priebus about being an impartial chair that brings people together and soothe things down rather than stirs it up,” Press began.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Rosen could be heard saying as Press spoke, leading host Chris Cuomo to interrupt and let her get a take in.
“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” she responded. “Just last night Debbie was on TV, our DNC chair, asking if Bernie should get out, ‘No, absolutely.’”
“The DNC has been scrupulously objective and stayed out of this for a long time,” she continued. “The trashing of the DNC leadership is absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable. Just because Bernie Sanders is losing, all he’s doing is whining about the process. And, Bill, this is beneath you. Come on!”
“I would go back to Martin O’Malley, way back into Minneapolis. I went to the DNC meeting in Minneapolis, it was a set piece for Hillary Clinton,” Press responded.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IinuxO54Ry8
O’Malley and Sanders were both on the record at times voicing their concern that the Democratic National Committee was not be impartial in treatment of candidates.
The sentiments were echoed on MSNBC, as the Daily Caller reports:
Appearing on “Morning Joe” on Wednesday, Brzezinski said that Sanders treatment by the Democratic Party “has been very poorly handled from the start. It has been unfair and they haven’t taken him seriously, and it starts quite frankly with the person that we just heard speaking. It just does.”
Brzezinski’s call for a change of leadership was in response to Wasserman Schultz’s criticism of Sanders from Tuesday night when she said, “There is a way to deal with frustration over process. But the fact that the Sanders campaign has issued a ‘but’ in between condemnation of violence and frustration over the process seems to excuse their supporters’ actions, which is unacceptable.”
Wasserman Schultz was referring to the chaotic Nevada convention they held last week where chairs were thrown and Sen. Barbara Boxer ?was booed off the stage.
The chair of the Nevada Democratic Party Roberta Lange has reportedly received threats for her handling of the Nevada Democratic Party Convention.
After the clip of Wasserman Schultz ended, fellow host Joe Scarborough said, “That’s where it all started with rigging the debates.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ftsRypMBQ8
It’s no surprise that the DNC and the Clinton campaign would like to see Bernie start to wind down his organization and make a concession speech to begin unifying the party. However, I think Bernie truly feels that the system is “rigged,” as he puts it, and may see an inherent principled stand in continuing to move forward. The evidence throughout this process has only proven to strengthen his claims.
If you stand back and look at the race, the Republican Party looks like the one that is, at this point, more unified and moving toward the general election. In a way, the primaries are a race to see which party can get past the unsavory process first and start healing and fundraising. It looked like Hillary would have that one in the bag, but this cycle has provided numerous twists and turns. Just days before the Indiana primary, most pundits were still talking about how to brace for a contested GOP convention. Yet, here we are.
Bernie is on the cusp of attempting to push for a contested Democratic convention, though he’ll need the cooperation of many superdelegates to have a chance at making that happen. Then again, this year doesn’t look like other years, and Bernie has vowed to press on with intentions to win California.
