PHILADELPHIA — Bernie Sanders supporters at the Democratic National Convention see the party emails revealed by Wikileaks as confirmation that the system is rigged against their progressive policies and in favor of presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton.
The published emails showed party officials clearly tipping the scales in Clinton’s favor.
“A party that calls itself Democratic should be democratic,” California delegate Jim Boylston said on Sunday. “It’s not.”
“They had a lot of nerve,” Sanders supporter Cynthia Bagley said after a climate rally at City Hall. “They called Bernie supporters conspiracy theorists. But we were right. They had their queen, and they wanted to coronate her.”
“It proves what we all thought,” Tyler Davis, a 40-year-old web developer from Dallas said. “We were gaslighted by the party.”
“The Wikileaks information has confirmed what many of us have been feeling about the corruption of the Democratic nominating process,”
The emails gave new focus to some protestors in Philadelphia. “We’ve come here to protest the DNC for their collusion with the Hillary campaign,” said Sanders supporter Alyssa King. “So much corruption going on.”
Some Clinton supporters waved off the problem, “Look, you’re the insurgent,” said longtime Democratic operative Joe Trippi. “If the party isn’t trying to stop you, you’re not actually the insurgent.” Trippi added, “I’d love to see the RNC emails. I bet there are a few gems on Trump.”
“I think there needs to be unity in the party,” one Clinton delegate from California told me. “If Bernie people say ‘Bernie or Bust,’ then Trump wins.”
Others Clinton delegates showed concern. “That’s what Trump was saying — it’s rigged. It’s fixed,” Julia Miller, former Sunnyvale mayor said.
Timothy P. Carney, the Washington Examiner’s senior political columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]. His column appears Tuesday and Thursday nights on washingtonexaminer.com.
