Leaked emails take the Democrat congresswoman who chairs the Democratic National Committee off the stage.
In Brazilian terms, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is a mixture of Vanessa Grazziotin with Jandira Feghali.* She occupies a post equivalent to chairwoman of the Democratic Party. She has a combative style and is always willing to speak on any platform, live or digital, in defense of the party.
She often appears on TV, and the image of her curly hair already makes her adversaries ultimately reject her. Even among colleagues, she is not exactly popular. In Brazil, among the old left, she would be considered a “busy bee.” She accomplishes her mission with great effort, little shine and no sympathy.
Still, the news that Wasserman Schultz was removed from the Democratic National Convention, which starts now in Philadelphia, was a shock. The reason: a problem that seemed relatively under control—the fierce resistance of Bernie Sanders followers to support Hillary Clinton—became a problem again because of her.
To start with, as Democratic National Committee chairman, Wasserman Schultz should have remained impartial when she ran for the position. A series of leaked emails by WikiLeaks shows what everyone already knew.
The congresswoman is a steadfast Clinton supporter. She spoke badly about Sanders, mainly about his press officer. She also complained to the owner of a cable TV station about a commentator as feisty as herself, Mika Brzezinski. Nothing that anyone hadn’t seen before.
The other “revelations” seem more like child’s play than sophisticated political conspiracies. In one revelation, members of the party simulate a virtual ad in which the Trump group searches beautiful women who accept being ridiculed and harassed.
In another revelation, an official said, under the illusion that his remark was private, that evangelic voters would not be happy to know that Sanders is an atheist.
Sanders is being very dramatic about all of this and wants the congresswoman out. In a way that exceeds pre-election predictions as to be almost folkloric, Sanders is selling his support of Hillary at great expense; support that has been criticized by the legions of voters who favor the left-leaning senator. Hillary is very worried that these Sanders supporters will not only decide not to vote for her out of revenge or to shake things up, but that they will decide to support Trump.
That is why Clinton removed the loyal Wasserman Schultz from the convention. In 2006, at 42, the congresswoman endured seven operations related to a type of breast cancer with a very negative genetic profile. She is said to have attended political meetings with the intravenous medicine for pain hidden in her bag.
The Republican National Convention involved aspects that will have great repercussion, from the shock provoked by Sen. Ted Cruz, Trump’s adversary, who spoke without endorsing Trump’s candidacy, to the curiosity of the almost genuine Melania Trump giving a speech that plagiarized two paragraphs from a speech by Michelle Obama.
Trump himself opted for an all or nothing strategy. Instead of trying to entice voters who reject him, he is trying to reach the ones who haven’t voted in previous elections and who might be motivated by his extreme speeches.
Hillary, on the contrary, must do everything according to the manual, and can’t lose an election that is practically guaranteed. In order not to be booed by Sanders followers, she let the congresswoman go. In politics, nothing is certain, let alone appreciation for loyalty.
*Editor’s note: Vanessa Grazziotin and Jandira Feghali have served as Brazilian politicians.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.