Last week, the Democratic party took gleeful stabs at the Republicans' handling of their convention. Now the tables have turned.
Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz stepped down on Sunday after a massive email leak of more than 20,000 emails gave credence to claims the party was biased in favor of Hillary Clinton.
In one email, though Sanders' name was not mentioned, the party's CFO appeared to suggest he should be asked about his faith, saying,
He had skated on saying he has a Jewish heritage.
Now Wasserman Schultz's resignation comes at the absolute worst time for Democrats for several reasons.
First, the party's national convention begins on Monday, and it will now occur with a sense of controversy hanging over it.
Second, Sanders supporters now have a fight to pick with their own party at a time the Dems were looking to show a sense of unity to contrast themselves with the Republican party.
.@BernieSanders says Debbie Wasserman Schultz "should resign, period" following DNC email leak. #ThisWeekhttps://t.co/kJJGGR4Lhn — This Week (@ThisWeekABC) July 24, 2016
Third, as of now, Wasserman Schultz is still scheduled to address the party at the convention in Philadelphia. There's no guarantee that we won't see a Ted Cruz-like scene, especially with Sanders' delegates on the floor, and it'll be interesting to see how she will be received.
And lastly, it gives the Republicans a wound to pick at. Trump has consistently claimed the Democrats' way of doing business is rigged in favor of Hillary. Now with this leak, he'll have even more of a reason to throw shade at the party.
"Crooked Hillary" sounds just a little bit less immature now, and he could continue making an appeal to Sanders supporters while arguing they should avoid a party that undermines their voters.
After all, on Sunday, Bernie Sanders himself said the party had not been impartial.
Whether those arguments are accurate is another story, but Republicans have no reason to spare their opposition, especially with the way the RNC was criticized last week.
Now, to be clear, most of these reasons have to do with the optics of this situation. There is still not much evidence, if any at all, in the thousands of emails to prove there were actual systemic factors that conspired against Bernie Sanders.
But it just looks bad. And this is a presidential election. Any slight misstep, like the DNC's here, could have consequences.
Citations: Debbie Wasserman Schultz To Step Down As Democratic Chair After Convention (NPR), DNC email leaks, explained (Vox)
