Sanders has succeeded in being allowed to name his own people for input into what will become the Democratic Platform. "We believe that we will have the representation on the platform drafting committee to create a Democratic platform that reflects the views of millions of our supporters who want the party to address the needs of working families in this country and not just Wall Street, the drug companies, the fossil fuel industry and other powerful special interests." click here Writing the Party Platform would have been solely the responsibility of DWS, but it appears that Sanders will now have 5 inputs, Clinton will have 6, and Wasserman Schultz will have 4.
"On Monday, after a major concession from the Democratic National Committee gave him the ability to do so, Sanders announced his five choices for the "platform committee" that will write the party's officials positions.
"His selections -- radical black intellectual Cornel West and hardcore climate activist Bill McKibben, Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Keith Ellison, Muslim rights spokesperson James Zogby, and Native American tribal rights leader Deborah Parker -- are primarily progressive firebrands known, like Sanders, for rejecting half-measures and seeking to exert pressure from outside the mainstream." click here
There has been a lot of talk lately on progressive media that sounds like Debbie Wasserman Schultz may soon be stepping down as Chair of the DNC. It is sounding more like step down or get voted out by Clinton supporters. That could be good news, but will it really happen? And if it does, will it really change anything at this point? Despite all the talk, DWS seems to be digging in her heels and hanging tight. As reported in The Hill: "Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said Wednesday she isn't distracted by reports that some party members want her replaced as the head of the Democratic National Committee." click here
The Hill also reports "Democrats on Capitol Hill are discussing whether Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz should step down as Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairwoman before the party's national convention in July." click here It seems these Clinton supporters are worried that all the shenanigans DWS has pulled to make Sanders a non-entity in this election season could be backfiring, and that their chances of gaining Sanders' supporters in view of the conduct of the Party itself may cause them to either stay home, or worse, vote for Trump. To paraphrase one of the senators who spoke at The Hill, the only question now is to decide what color plate to serve DWS's head on. Gee, is this really happening? Who'd have ever thunk it? My only question is what took these geniuses so long to realize that the Party was headed for a collision with its own constituents?
Under Schultz, the DNC blocked almost any Independent from voting by utilizing the "closed primary" tool. They've also denied registered republicans from switching to Sanders if they had a mind to. The only place an Independent could vote was for the Republican Party which did not use closed primaries. There's only a handful of states that require closed primaries such as Florida, but DWS made sure it was a rule of the DNC. In addition, the DNC, with DWS running the charge, caucus states often saw a rash of misconduct by the state-run Democratic Party leaders pull strings making it near impossible for democrats to caste their ballots, i.e., Arizona, where some 260 polling sites were reduced to 60 or less. Who does that? What sense did it make?
There's one person who could remove her from her position immediately, and that's the one who appointed her, President Obama. Don't expect that to happen anytime soon. He has seen all her dirty tricks and has been absolutely mum about it. In fact, the results of a writing campaign by many democratic voters to beg him to remove DWS from her chair position resulted in him endorsing her campaign for re-election to her U.S. House seat.
According to The Miami-Herald: "President Barack Obama has endorsed U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who faces a rare primary challenge for her Broward/Miami-Dade congressional district.
"It's no surprise that Obama endorsed his Democratic National Committee chair since 2011 -- but it shows that she is facing a challenge worth paying attention to from Nova Southeastern University professor Tim Canova.
"In a written endorsement, Obama called Wasserman Schultz a "progressive leader."
Read more here: click here
It's really difficult to understand Obama's thought process in regards to DWS. She has openly supported the Pay-Day Lending scam while Elizabeth Warren has been fighting to shut them all down. DWS has also tried desperately to destroy one of Obama's highest achievements, the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of 2010. This action by Schultz has brought even more wrath from Elizabeth Warren who is now in the position of fighting DWS to keep it alive.
It may be too late in the game for a DNC that is not run by DWS to make much difference. We won't know until she is either canned or steps down, and who knows how long that may take? But it seems these senators who are supporting Clinton are serious enough to make it happen.
There isn't one online media site that is not reporting on it, and the pressure must be getting to her. The Christian Science Monitor interviewed her many months ago and were literally shocked by her opinion that the voters did not really count, only the delegate count mattered. Whether it's the Ed Schultz Show, Thom Hartmann show (The Big Picture), The Hill, Huffington Post, pick your poison. It's everywhere.
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