PHILADELPHIA (WUSA9) — The Democratic National Convention is off to a rocky start, as party leaders struggle to unify the delegates after a damaging email leak showed a concerted effort by the DNC to keep Bernie Sanders from succeeding.
The convention began around 4 p.m., but Florida Congresswoman and DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz, who was supposed to open the convention, did not take the stage.
That went instead to Baltimore Mayor and Secretary of the DNC, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.
Wasserman Shultz should be one of the convention’s most popular faces. Instead she’s one of the most divisive.
She announced her resignation effective at the end of the week and after being booed in front of her own Florida delegation early Monday morning.
DNC party leaders had their emails hacked and a cascade of embarrassing revelations came to light about how they worked against Bernie Sanders instead of staying neutral.
Sanders supporters rallied outside all over town, protesting their candidate’s treatment, and some vowing to never support Hillary Clinton.
“The DNC basically de-facto manipulated and run by Hillary Clinton was not even-handed in this election,” said Norman Solomon of the Sanders Delegates Network.
“I think that it is unhealthy for Democracy not to have a strong, outside political presence,” said Karen Bernal of the California Bernie Delegation.
There are a lot of hurt feelings among this crowd and not that much time to mend fences. Now, they all wait to see what Hillary Clinton brings to the table to smooth things over.
“The onus is on her,” Solomon said. “The ball is in her court to show that party unity is not just rhetoric.”
First lady Michelle Obama, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are expected to speak Monday night.
