PHILADELPHIA — Hillary Clinton’s campaign on Monday downplayed a budding insurgency by delegates loyal to Bernie Sanders, insisting that the Democratic Party was “coming together.”
Day One of the Democratic convention was marred by revelations that the Democratic National Committee and its chairwoman, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, were actively working against Sanders, a socialist senator from Vermont, in his primary campaign against Clinton.
The DNC’s actions didn’t tip the scales; Clinton, President Obama’s first secretary of state, would have won the nomination anyway. But Sanders loyalists took it as an affront nonetheless, forcing Wasserman Schultz to resign as chairman ahead of the convention.
She still plans to gavel the convention to order Monday and have some sort of speaking role.
Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook declined to say why the secretary was permitting this, and risking a media spectacle of booing Sanders delegates on the convention floor that could distract from the nominee’s message.
“The chairwoman’s statement yesterday speaks for itself — that’s what she plans to do,” Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook told reporters during a morning news conference. “Look, as I said earlier, our convention could not be a greater contrast than what we saw with the Republicans last week.”
Mook was referring to Wasserman Schultz’s resignation statement issued Sunday that she would open and close the convention and address delegates on the stakes of the 2016 election. Wasserman Schultz will not preside over the convention, and her resignation becomes official upon its conclusion.
The Republican nominee appears to have earned a bounce in the polls coming out of his convention, pulling even or ahead of Clinton. But Cleveland was hampered by a mini delegate revolt on the convention floor and signs of disunity, capped by Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas refusing to endorse Trump in his prime time address.
The Clinton campaign talked confidently of putting on a more successful convention, despite the controversy over what is believed to be a Russian government hack of DNC emails and subsequent leak by Wikileaks.
Beyond stoking the ire of Sanders delegates and possible spillover on the convention floor, the situation casts fresh attention on Clinton’s own scandal involving the use of a private email server during her tenure at the State Department.
Clinton campaign press secretary Brian Fallon told reporters on Monday that he hoped delegates would show restraint and be respectful of Wasserman Schultz when she takes the stage, recognizing the extraordinary step she took in resigning as chairman.
Mook said the four-day convention would reveal a unified party, beginning with Sanders’ prime-time speech on Monday evening. Sanders is being given the plum final slot of the first night. The theme of the first day of the convention is jobs and the economy.
“Sen. Sanders has already endorsed Secretary Clinton,” Mook said. “He’s going to double down on that endorsement … That’s not what we saw from Sen. Cruz last week.”
Among those addressing the convention on Monday are first lady Michelle Obama; Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a progressive hero who was a finalist to be Clinton’s running mate; and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.
