Chaos at the Democratic Convention?

Politics –
Democratic Convention Chaos?

For months, the political world has been predicting the likelihood of a contentious Republican National Convention. Never once did anyone consider the possibility that the Democratic convention in Philadelphia could end up in chaos.

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Presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump has already knocked out all of his challengers. However, Democrats are still duking it out, with Bernie Sanders refusing to concede or accept the very obvious math that he simply can not beat Hillary Clinton. Still, that hasn’t stopped Sanders and his supporters from slinging insults, inciting violence and threatening to burn the party down unless Sanders is somehow handed the nomination.

Last week, Sanders supporters became riotous during a Democratic state convention in Las Vegas. Attendees threw chairs at the stage and hurled ugly epithets at speakers they believed to be aligned with Hillary Clinton. They even posted online the personal cellphone number and home address of state chairwoman Roberta Lange, who received death threats against her and her family. Later, Sanders’ people scrawled “Murdered democracy” and “You are scum” on the walls and sidewalks outside the local Democratic headquarters.

When given the opportunity to condemn acts of violence and prepare his supporters for what is perhaps the inevitable nomination of Mrs. Clinton, Bernie Sanders did not do the right thing. Instead, he further riled up his supporters, perpetuated the narrative that Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz is conspiring against his candidacy, and even threatened to removed her from the DNC if he can somehow seize the nomination.

That’s not preparing the party for unity — that’s fixing for a fight.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. The Republicans are the ones who were expected to be divided. The party was hijacked by a bigoted reality TV opportunist, which led to unprecedented in-party fighting and gave birth to the #NeverTrump movement.

As for the Democrats, they were supposed to be united. Earlier this year, the party celebrated how substantive and civil its candidates were (in contrast with Donald Trump). They also looked forward to completing the political process, coming together as a family in Philly and through its solidarity, showing the world how an election should be conducted.  Not so much anymore.

Is this a preview of what’s to come in Philadelphia?

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“What Nevada shows is the kindling is there,” said Democratic strategist Joe Tripp. “[But] what is [Sanders] going to do with it?”  Good question.

When he eventually issued a statement on the events of Las Vegas, a defiant Bernie Sanders dug in his heels, recited a list of complaints from his supporters, then put the Democratic leadership on notice. “The Party has a choice: It can open its doors and welcome my backers into the party” or “maintain its status quo,” Sanders said.

As for the death threats, Sanders wasn’t particularly apologetic.

“It goes without saying that I condemn any and all forms of violence, including the personal harassment of individuals,” he declared. “But when we speak of violence, I should add here that months ago, during the Nevada campaign, shots were fired into my campaign office in Nevada, and the apartment housing complex my campaign staff lived in was broken into and ransacked.”

Sanders’ defiant response came as a shock to the Democratic leadership.

“Bernie should say something — not have some silly statement,” Sen. Harry Reid said. “Bernie is better than that. … I thought he was going to do something different.”

If anyone was expecting Sanders to do something different and not play politics, they were mistaken. As Politico writer Bill Scher pointed out, “The potential of using his delegates to make the convention disorderly — forcing floor fights over platform language, nominating himself on the floor, withholding his endorsement — is what gives [Sanders] leverage.” Or in other words, if Sanders were to disavow Nevada and in the process, diminish the threat of a similar scene in Philly, he would have weakened his own negotiating position.

Still, Sanders’ apparent “political revolution” is a huge risk with potentially disastrous results. Bernie can only catch up in the delegate count if hundreds of Clinton superdelegates suddenly decide to switch their allegiance to Sanders — which is a hard case for Sanders to make when he’s losing by more than 3 million popular votes. It’s an even more difficult case to make when Sanders appears to be justifying violence over feelings of being slighted and treated unfairly.

Could Democratic discord be in store for Democrats in Philadelphia? Sanders isn’t exactly saying no.

If Sanders has issues with Debbie Wasserman Schultz, that’s something that should be between him and her.  However, he should not hold the entire party hostage simply because of a personal beef he has with the party chairperson.  Unless he’s planning to backtrack on his word and launch a 3rd party presidential bid similar to the one Ralph Nader did against Al Gore in 2000, and/or risk the presidency going to Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders needs to take the high road. He can’t force the Democratic party into liking him.  He needs to be on the same team as the party, congressional leaders and the White House, or else he runs the risk of being perceived as a malcontent.

What does Bernie Sanders want?  Does he sincerely believe bullying the party and ignoring the will of millions of voters will magically force superdelegates to simply hand him the nomination on a silver platter?

Is Bernie Sanders 2016 becoming Ralph Nader 2000 and setting the stage for chaos at the convention?

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