PHILADELPHIA — A Republican opposition research group plans to draw attention to the divisions that still exist within the Democratic Party throughout its convention here this week.
America Rising added more layers to an existing attack plan over the weekend after the Democratic National Committee chairwoman was forced to resign when her preference for Hillary Clinton over primary rival Bernie Sanders was exposed by the leaked documents from the DNC.
“As a boring coronation by party elites takes place inside the convention hall, outside in the streets Americans will see a Democratic Party deeply divided, and for good reason,” said Amelia Chasse, spokeswoman for America Rising. “The catastrophic fallout from the DNC email leak has confirmed Bernie backers’ worst suspicions about a rigged primary, compounded by a vice presidential pick that did nothing to help Secretary Clinton win over progressives.”
A massive leak of internal documents published by Wikileaks on Friday scrambled the DNC just before its convention kicked off in Philadelphia. The off-the-record emails made public by the leak revealed the DNC’s underhanded efforts to smother Sanders’ populist rise.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, DNC chairwoman, repeatedly fended off criticism that her organization had engaged in any attempt to boost Clinton over her insurgent challenger.
But the emails suggested DNC officials conspired to confront Sanders with questions about his religion ahead of primaries in Kentucky and West Virginia in an effort to weaken his support among Christian voters there. Sanders won the West Virginia primary and narrowly lost in Kentucky.
Wasserman Schultz was stripped of her public role in the convention as calls for her resignation grew louder. She announced her decision to step down at the end of the convention on Sunday evening.
In its question-generating app, Grill, America Rising formulated new questions over the weekend to focus on the DNC leak, such as “Do you think the system was always rigged against Bernie Sanders?”
Users of the app are encouraged to pose its questions to superdelegates and elected officials around the convention.
America Rising will dispatch about half a dozen trackers across Philadelphia to capture pro-Sanders protests.
Its digital push will include videos of prominent Democrats, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Vice President Joe Biden and even President Obama criticizing Clinton in past remarks.
The group plans to “name and shame” superdelegates who emerged with early support for Clinton in states where Sanders won the primary or caucus.
America Rising’s policy-focused arm, AR2, will focus on areas of the Democratic platform that have shifted left amid the rising popularity of Warren and Sanders by launching a blitz of op-eds, policy white papers and graphics.
“As the Democrat Party nominee, Hillary Clinton now owns every extreme policy proposal in the party’s platform, which Bernie Sanders even calls ‘the most progressive’ of all time,” said Jeremy Adler, spokesman for AR2.
Adler highlighted the “job-destroying” minimum wage increase and the expansion of Obamacare as problematic planks in the Democrats’ platform this year.
Just as Democrats focused heavily on the Republicans who skipped the GOP convention in Cleveland, America Rising plans to draw attention to the Democratic lawmakers and candidates who will not attend their party’s convention this week.
That list includes former Sen. Russ Feingold, who is challenging Sen. Ron Johnson for his seat.
CORRECTION: The Washington Examiner incorrectly listed Sen. Jon Tester as not attending the DNC.
