DNC now being led by party veteran who slammed Maine Legislator

The Democratic Party is a mess right now. After a long, tumultuous primary, it seemed to finally be over. Senator Bernie Sanders gave up his crusade and despite protests from his grassroots alleging primary corruption, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton secured the nomination. As the Republican Party struggled to tame the unruly #NeverTrump movement threatening unity around Donald Trump, Debbie Wasserman Schultz mocked RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.

The tables then turned.

Embattled Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has long faced accusations that her operation has been biased for Hillary Clinton. While this has long been denied, WikiLeaks confirmed it when it made several thousand e-mails between top officials available in a searchable database.

Schultz had made a number of comments against Senator Bernie Sanders and his campaign staff, going as far as using vulgar language to describe his campaign manager. As a result of these revelations, she has agreed to step down.

The Democratic National Committee will now be led by Donna Brazile, a CNN commentator and party consultant with a history within the party, including serving as interim chair in the past. She was fired from the Michael Dukakis campaign in 1988 for alleging George H.W. Bush had an extramarital affair, stating people deserve to know if Barbara Bush would be sharing her bed in the White House. She also would go on to lead Al Gore’s failed 2000 presidential campaign.

She also has said some mean things to say about Maine Representative Diane Russell, who has been leading the charge for grassroots Democrats against the existence and influence of superdelegates. Many grassroots Democrats disagree with superdelegates, who represent certain leaders who are elevated above regular Democrats and automatically given a vote at the National Convention.

This push by Representative Russell has put her in the center of an ongoing struggle, which has also triggered Democratic National Committee Vice Chair Raymond Buckley to attack her publicly on social media.

The Maine Democrats had no response and failed to defend their own legislator. Silence.

And now another opponent of Representative Russell’s stand for grassroots Democrats has risen to power. According to e-mails released by WikiLeaks, Donna Bazile does not believe in what Representative Russell is doing in regards to the superdelegates.

In response to a press release about the anti-superdelegate resolution overwhelmingly passed by Maine Democrats at their State Convention, Brazile stated it was “Another lunacy.” When the other individual in the conversation notes that the issue is out of the jurisdiction Representative Russell was attempting, Brazile stated “Off course, it’s the lies.”

Not only was the stand for grassroots Democrats being labeled as “lunacy”, the implication of the new Chair of the Democratic National Committee was that Representative Russell was lying. Do Maine Democrats agree with this assessment?

Maine Democrats overwhelmingly sided with Representative Russell at their State Convention. These same Maine Democrats also sided with Senator Bernie Sanders in their caucuses overwhelmingly across the state. The Maine Democratic Party has remained silent as the Democratic National Committee takes numerous swipes at their own State Legislator, who is merely standing up for the will of fellow Democrats.

Where is Chairman Phil Bartlett, a Hillary Clinton supporter, on the issue? So far, there has been silence. But why? Given the stances of Democrats from across the State, it would seem clear that the Maine Democratic Party should be speaking up not only for them, but Representative Diane Russell as well.

But as the Democratic National Committee replaces their biased chair with a rumor peddler who looks down upon free thinking Democrats wanting an equal voice in the democratic process, the Maine Democratic Party again remains silent.

Chris Dixon

About Chris Dixon

Chris Dixon is a libertarian-leaning writer and managing editor for The Liberty Conservative. In addition to his political writing, he also covers baseball for Cleat Geeks and enjoys writing on a number of other topics ranging on Medium.