DemExit: Bernie Leaves Democratic Party, Chaos Ensues

Gary Johnson and Jill Stein benefit from the tumult.In the insane 2016 election season, the Democratic Party is trying to show a unified front against Republican nominee Donald Trump. The problem is, they’re anything but unified. Bernie supporters are miffed. They’re angry, and they showed it this weekend at the Democratic National Convention.Bernie supporters used protests, chants, signs, slogans and more, yelling “Hell No, DNC, we won’t vote for Hillary” and marched four miles every day from the city center to the wall surrounding the DNC.Videos of Bernie supporters being locked out of the convention went viral. “I’m afraid of a Democratic Party that’s secretly taking our rights away, while we’re scared of somebody who’s saying they’re going to take our rights away,” said one vocal protestor on video.

DNC: Sorry about stealing the election. Now shut up about it and vote for Hillary or you're a bad person. #DemExit pic.twitter.com/t5TsM1IB8I

— Pat the Berner (@SilERabbit) July 28, 2016

Reading the Wikileaks emails, it is pretty clear to see why Sanders supporters are so upset. The emails detail a systematic campaign to destroy Sanders’ reputation. One email talks about targeting his religious beliefs: “My Southern Baptist Peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist,” said DNC chief financial officer Brad Marshall.Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, the former DNC chair who resigned this week because of the scandal, had a lot to say about Sanders and his supporters in the emails. She said he speaks “like someone who has never been a member of the Democratic Party and has no understand of what we do,” and that one of Sanders’ aides was a “damn liar.”The emails are very “House of Cards”-esque in their substance. Some of them refer to donors and seating positions, saying that one donor “will be sitting in the sh---iest corner I can find.” Others talk about President Obama not appearing for a fundraising event: “He really won’t go up 20 minutes for $350k? That’s f—king stupid,” says Alexandra Shapiro, a DNC finance director.

No doubt, the emails confirm the worst suspicions that Bernie Sanders supporters had about the election process. Democrats and Republicans have been using the word “rigged” during this entire cycle, talking about the rigged justice system, the rigged economy, the rigged Congress. President Obama even used the word rigged to refer to wealthy corporations and tax subsidies.The 2016 Presidential primaries are supposed to be overseen by a neutral Democratic or Republican National Committee, who helps conduct the will of registered members of the party into a single candidate, who then goes up against the opposing party’s candidate and is elected based on the will of the people.For Bernie supporters, that’s all gone now. Even Donald Trump, the candidate who spawned a Republican counter-movement (remember #NeverTrump?) was still allowed to participate fairly by the Republican National Committee and eventually won the party’s nomination. For better or for worse, the RNC followed the will of their constituents and didn’t interfere.

The MSM is saying dozens walked out⁉️ how about over 1000+ California is GONE‼️ #DNCWalkOut #Demexit pic.twitter.com/kJDuJdJVUc— Reginald Hodges (@sci_solar) July 27, 2016

It’s hard to say whether the DNC allying itself against Bernie would have even affected the outcome of the primaries. The real people who benefit from the controversy, however, are the third-party candidates: Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party, and Jill Stein of the Green Party.The two candidates are polling at historic numbers. Stein is in the single digits, which doesn’t seem like much, but is far better than the party did in 2012. Gary Johnson, meanwhile, is very close to breaking the 15% barrier needed to get onstage at the Presidential debates.Regardless of who wins the Presidential election, it’s clear that the Democratic National Committee’s decisions in the future will be held under a much closer microscope. The taint of the 2016 election and the DNC emails will likely haunt the party for years to come.