The Democrats’ Second Email Problem Hacked messages showing the party connived against Sanders have sent his fans in Philly into a tizzy.By Allysia Finley

Posted By on July 26th, 2016

http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-democrats-second-email-problems-1469488983

Donald Trump got a post-convention gift Friday when WikiLeaks released a trove of hacked emails that showed Democratic National Committee leaders conniving against Bernie Sanders.Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz disparaged Mr. Sanders’s party loyalty in one email and called his campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, a “damn liar.” The party’s CFO, Brad Marshall, suggested trying to make an issue of the Vermonter’s religion: “Does he believe in a God. He had skated on saying he has a Jewish heritage. I think I read he is an atheist.” Amy Dacey, the party’s CEO, replied: “AMEN.”

It’s hardly news that the Democratic machine assisted Hillary Clinton throughout the primary. The party scheduled debates at times likely to draw few viewers—for instance, Sunday night at 9 p.m. Still, it’s bracing to see the political cynicism lain out in black and white.

The uproar cost Ms. Wasserman Schultz her job, as the chairwoman announced she will step down at the end of the convention. She leaves after having accomplished her mission of nominating Mrs. Clinton, for which she is being rewarded with a titular position as head of the Clinton campaign’s “50-state program” to elect Democrats nationwide.

At first the party establishment expressed remorse only that the improper collusion was exposed. Mr. Marshall, the CFO, apologized Saturday. “I deeply regret,” he wrote in a post on Facebook, “that my insensitive, emotional emails would cause embarrassment to the DNC.” The following day, after Ms. Wasserman Schultz announced her resignation, President Obama lauded her service, saying that “her fundraising and organizing skills were matched only by her passion, her commitment and her warmth.” Mrs. Clinton thanked her “longtime friend” for “getting the Democratic Party to this year’s historic convention.”

Meantime, Team Clinton is using Russian hackers as a diversion. “Sources are saying the Russians are releasing these emails for the purpose of actually helping Donald Trump,” campaign manager Robby Mook said. Campaign Chairman John Podesta sensed “a kind of bromance going on between Putin and Trump, which is distinct from this leak.”

The truth is that the entire party establishment opposed Mr. Sanders. Last fall President Obama tamped down on the furor over Mrs. Clinton’s email indiscretions by saying that “I don’t think it posed a national security problem.” More than 600 of the party’s 712 “superdelegates” backed Mrs. Clinton, even as most polls showed Mr. Sanders performing better against Republicans in November.

On Saturday the rules committee for this week’s Philadelphia convention attempted to mollify Sanders supporters: A majority of the committee voted to establish a postelection commission to consider reducing the role of superdelegates. This was intended to avert a floor fight on an amendment altogether eliminating superdelegates, which would have likely bled into a recital of party grievances.

Yet the sop did not placate disaffected Sanders voters, who view the episode as a symbol of the “rigged” political system. Thousands of protesters stormed the city’s center on Monday, demanding that the party “nominate Sanders or lose in November!” Mr. Sanders’s exhortations to back Mrs. Clinton were greeted with boos. CONTINUE AT SITE

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