It was a rowdy scene at the Democratic National Convention this morning when Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) addressed her home state of Florida’s delegation to the convention. Wasserman Schultz over the weekend announced her resignation as chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) after DNC emails made public by Wikileaks confirmed what many people had already suspected — high level leadership in the Democratic Party sought to help Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) win the Democratic nomination in her close contest against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
If Wasserman Schultz thought she would find forgiveness and a warm welcome from her home state delegation, that hope was quickly dashed when, along with applause, loud boos and jeers greeted her.
Wasserman Schultz is scheduled to appear at the convention’s main stage. Will she show? Will she be disinvited? The reception in the convention hall may be much worse than the one she received this morning. At the convention hall she would not be before only people from her home state, of whom a substantial portion she likely knows well. Plus, she would on the main stage be before an audience including many delegations with majority Sanders supporters, unlike Florida where Clinton won about two-thirds of the delegates.
Many Sanders delegates in the convention hall will blame Wasserman Schultz’s leadership for their candidate not winning the nomination. Even many Clinton delegates will resent the two-faced DNC leadership that claimed objectivity in the race for the nomination while, behind the scenes, favoring Clinton.
Read Ben Kamisar’s article in the Hill, and watch the accompanying video of Wasserman Schultz being introduced to the Florida delegation, for a window on what happened this morning and an indication of what might happen if Wasserman Schultz meets her main stage commitment.
