Does the Maine Democratic Party stand by the DNC’s disturbing racism?

By now, the story is well known. Democratic National Committeewoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has finally been forced out of her role after Wikileaks dumped almost twenty thousand e-mails between top party officials. Among them came a number of disturbing revelations, including clear bias against Senator Bernie Sanders and attacks on Maine State Representative Diane Russell. Worse, is that the longtime party veteran who took swipes at Representative Russell is now leading the Democratic National Committee.

The storyline gets worse though.

Aside from a number of embarrassing revelations is the very disturbing racism that was unearthed. One point was when a Democratic National Committee staffer referred communication with Latino groups as “taco bowl engagement.” Democratic National Committee officials also referred to hispanics as “brand loyal customers.”

Not only is this offensive and wrong, it is entirely racist. It’s something that should be disavowed by all those affiliated with the Democratic Party.

The Maine Democratic Party disagrees however.

To this point, the Maine Democratic Party has not commented. Chairman Phil Bartlett, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, or congressional candidate Emily Cain have all said nothing regarding the disgraceful comments.

The Maine Democratic Party’s official twitter account has continued taking a stroll down memory lane trolling Congressman Bruce Poliquin, but has not yet issued a statement regarding the comments.

At this point, given the statements have been well-publicized in the news and widely discussed on social media, it’s fair to assume that all of these individuals and the State Party are aware of the comments. To this point, nobody has dared point out the comments are hurtful and do not reflect their own views.

Why wouldn’t the Maine Democratic Party release a statement affirming their committment to their principles, while stating their principles are at odds with the idea that outreach is “taco bowl engagement” and that hispanics are “brand loyal customers?” Is it because their beliefs are not at odds with these view points?

This could be assumed, given the silence from the State Party at this point.

Worse, there have been no statements by Chairman Phil Bartlett or Emily Cain, both who are quick to jump on Donald Trump for his rhetoric and statements. If they can call out others for their wrong and hurtful statements, why can’t they speak up here?

There is something disturbing about the continued silence from the Maine Democratic Party and their party leadership through this entire Wikileaks mess. A lot has come out regarding the party’s integrity and no one seems eager to try and address it, let alone salvage the sinking ship.

Why?

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.