DNC in PHL sort of looks like the RNC in CLE: Loud and disrupted

Whatever the Democrats were hoping for after watching the universally coined “Shit Show” that was the Republican National Convention, it sort of got derailed over the weekend by the watchdog group known ubiquitously as Wikileaks. They dumped thousands of emails they hacked from DNC servers, many of which showed DNC officials actively doing things to thwart the campaign of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders to aid Secretary Hillary Clinton.

It was a hard fought primary battle between the two, with Clinton winning, but not before Sanders stirred a hornets nest of support from angry young people from a variety of racial, ethnic, and economic backgrounds.

If many young people, including some avowed Democrats, didn’t fully trust Hillary Clinton and the DNC before, they are downright hostile now. DNC Chair, Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, announced she would be stepping down from her position in the DNC, but that didn’t soften the feelings of the assembled crowd of Bernie Sanders supporters who want nothing less than to bring down the Democratic Party — unless of course the party changes candidates during this convention and puts Sanders at the top of the ticket.

Not likely.

But Clinton and the DNC were not helping themselves any with their response to the leak of emails. The Clinton campaign was blaming the Russians for hacking into the DNC servers. With all due respect, Madame Secretary, Who cares who did it! Address the content of those emails, that horrendous picture it paints of the Democratic Party and the Hillary For America campaign.

If the Russians are guilty, well let the Justice Department deal with it, focus on winning back the hearts and minds of the people on the left who are looking for a champion, or steadfastly supporting their current champion — Bernie Sanders.

On Friday Clinton announced to her supporters — via text, no less — she had chosen Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate. Safe choice, everyone said. He can speak Spanish fluently, others excitedly announced! He is a no nonsense somewhat nice guy who has absolutely no appeal for the Sanders supporters.

Even Bernie was upset Elizabeth Warren wasn’t chosen. She and Hillary looked like they were getting along famously a couple of weeks ago when Warren and Clinton campaigned together, bashing the orange-haired charlatan representing the GOP.

Nope, we got Tim Kaine, who appears to be a very decent gentleman, who will hold his own in a fight, but will have empathy for those with differing opinions as well as the people the Democrats represent — you know, the 47 percent Mitt Romney so famously slurred during the 2012 presidential campaign.

Clearly, from what we’ve seen of Clinton and Kaine together in Florida, where they made the official announcement, Hillary Clinton is very happy with her choice and Tim Kaine is very happy to be her wingman. In all conventional aspects Kaine is the perfect choice for a Democratic running mate. He’s sort of conservative on some issues, wildly progressive on others and primarily moderate by definition.

But the far left doesn’t want a moderate, they want a fire-breathing wrecking ball who wants free college for all, universal health care, economic equality and a release from the crushing college debt many of these young people find themselves pulling like tackling sleds full of sandbags and rocks.

Tim Kaine isn’t their choice. They want a Bernie-Elizabeth Warren ticket. Not gonna happen.

So, when Senator Sanders spoke to his supporters Monday afternoon about the importance of party unity and defeating Donald Trump — and the only way to do that was by supporting the Clinton-Kaine ticket — he was roundly booed by his supporters. “NO EFFIN’ WAY!” they sort of shouted. They even shouted “LOCK HER UP!”

What, what? Was that Ted Cruz speaking to the Trump crowd? Sanders supporters booing their champion … aye-yi-yi! What is the world coming to?

Monday at the Democratic National Convention was all about the Bernie Sanders army, his supporters inside the convention and out. They controlled the show, drowning out anyone who vaguely supported the ticket that will be officially nominated on Wednesday and Thursday.

About 5 p.m. (Eastern time) the DNC released a statement apologizing to Bernie Sanders and his supporters. In it they said, “On behalf of everyone at the DNC, we want to offer a deep and sincere apology to Senator Sanders, his supporters, and the entire Democratic Party for the inexcusable remarks made over email. These comments do not reflect the values of the DNC or our steadfast commitment to neutrality during the nominating process. The DNC Does not — and will not — tolerate disrespectful comments, and the DNC is taking appropriate action to ensure it never happens again.

“We are embarking on a convention today that — thanks to the great efforts of Secretary Clinton, her team, Senator Sanders, his team, and the entire Democratic Party — will show a forward-thinking and optimistic vision for America, as compared to the dark and pessimistic vision that the GOP presented last week in Cleveland. Our focus is on electing Hillary Clinton, Tim Kaine and Democrats across the country, thanks to [a] Democratic Party that is strong, unified, and poised for victory in November.”

Well, it’s a nice apology, really, a very good apology — at least day or two too late. Or maybe the DNC should have nipped this in the bud nine months ago.

But they described the GOP convention as “dark and pessimistic,” which, well, maybe pessimistic is too kind of a description. It’s funny though; their first official campaign poster/logo was, to say the least, the source of a lot of humor. It sort of looked like Pence was … how do we put this charitably … boinking Trump. Cue the logo, which, in the age of the Internet, will live forever.

So, Joe Daley, Founder and CEO of LogoMyWay held a contest to design a new Trump-Pence logo. The results are, at least, entertaining. Here are my two favorites, as compared to the original. Click that link above to see the rest of the submitted logos.

The Democratic National Convention has started. Ben Jealous, former head of the NAACP just spoke to thunderous applause, at least for the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Jealous formally endorsed Bernie Sanders in the primaries, but there he was exhorting the assembled Dems to support the Clinton-Kaine ticket — the Democratic Party ticket.

It didn’t go as well for the former Congressman from the very leftwing state of Massachusetts. The Bernie supporters booed Barney Frank, the first openly gay man to serve in Congress. Apparently anyone who supports Hillary Clinton is the enemy to the Bernie Berners.

Earlier in the day a reporter for MSNBC spoke to a young Sanders supporter (I’ve forgotten both their names). The angry young woman told the reporter Hillary won’t win so they better nominate Bernie instead. Okay … she also denounced the presumptive nominee for having nice things to say about Debbie Wasserman Schultz and giving the soon-to-be former DNC chair a job in the campaign — in other words Hillary had Debbie’s back for all the corrupt things Debbie did during primary to get Hillary the nomination. That’s some sincere and strong words.

There’s a lot of tension in the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia — maybe the wrong choice for a DNC convention. I mean, the main complaint against Hillary Clinton is her close ties to the banking industry … Optics, it’s all about optics.

Congressman Raul Grijalva of Arizona is speaking. He came out early for Sanders, but he is encouraging everyone to support Hillary and Tim. The message from the dais of the DNC isn’t big on bashing Donald Trump, although there is that, but the speakers are also spending time talking about their progressive platform, the most progressive platform in history.

Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders will be speaking tonight, along with Michelle Obama. That will be a real highlight. We can expect them to support and get behind the Democratic Party ticket. Earlier in the day Sanders sent a text message to his supporters: “I ask you as a personal courtesy to me to not engage in any kind of protest on the floor. It’s of the utmost importance you explain this to you delegations.” It was signed, “Bernie.”

Go Bernie … I mean Hillary.

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Here’s a little post script: Remember when Google hit the scene Yahoo sort of … faded? Well, they’re back, as much more than a search engine. They are becoming one of the best news organizations in the world. They came to an independent conclusion that it was most likely the Russians that hacked the DNC servers. If you notice, they have news of all types, including politics, public policy, sports, entertainment, lifestyle and … everything.  Yahoo — who knew?

And keep an eye out for the blue duct tape. Yep, that’s a thing at this convention.

Photos from DNC Live Feed on YouTube
Top photo: Ben Jealous addressing the Democratic National Convention