Opinion

Debbie Wasserman Schultz Leads The Democrats In Their Battle Against Democracy

Ed J. Pozzuoli President, Tripp Scott
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Regardless of whom you supported, it is clear the Republican primary process worked. As a Florida delegate to the 2016 Republican Convention in Cleveland, I go there as a devoted Jeb Bush supporter now supporting Donald J. Trump.

As we have seen state by state, and as Indiana and West Virginia have confirmed, this is the year for anti-establishment candidates.

On the Republican side, this non-establishment sentiment bested GOP elites and big money. The will of the voters could not be denied. The previous calculus that included a well-financed campaign could not stop voters’ rejection of the status quo. The voters wanted change, and Donald Trump is the Republican nominee.

The Democratic side, however, has silenced the people’s voice from the beginning. Notwithstanding the standard Democrat talking point that Citizens United and big money are bad for American politics, it is the Democrats (not Republicans) who will nominate a candidate beholden to big donors.

From the start, Democrat Elites like Debbie Wasserman Schultz discouraged viable contenders to Hillary from entering the race, leaving just one alternative to Clinton: Bernie Sanders.

Back then Sanders was only a Democrat for a few months, an obscure Senator from a small state. After nine years in the Senate, his accomplishments were limited, and he was generally isolated from leadership even when the Democrats were in control.

His views were downright un-American, anti-capitalist and beyond the extreme of mainstream Democratic Party circles. He touted policies that have failed historically in Europe, South America and beyond. Socialist Senator Sanders was never viewed as a legitimate threat to the Clinton coronation.

But the Democratic primary voters would not go quietly into the night. As the only other option to Clinton, Sanders galvanized impressive support. With no viable alternative message from a truly viable alternative, Sanders became the movement candidate for Democrats to voice their frustration and disgust with the status quo. The greater the efforts to quell the rebellion, the more momentum anti-status quo Sanders forces gained.

As Dick Morris noted, Sanders bounced back from losses in the solid-blue Northeast to make a giant comeback in Indiana, where he swept 44 of 83 delegates. In West Virginia Sanders also garnered a solid majority, winning 18 delegates compared to Clinton’s 11.

But Sanders’ popular support will not dethrone Hillary. Make no mistake: Debbie Wasserman Schultz is the guardian of the status quo and its candidate, Hillary Clinton. In order to stop this growing insurrection, the DNC had a procedural “trump” card — superdelegates.

Superdelegates are party insiders, status quo supporters and longtime members of the backroom secret dealmakers. These are big money donors that fund left wing groups through a maze of legal entities to protect anonymity. These are people Sanders (and Trump) rail against.

Look at the impact of this elite class on the nomination coronation… I mean, process.

Hillary has earned 1716 to Sanders’ 1430 delegates, reflecting the last six months’ close primary battle. But with Wasserman Shultz’s finger on the scale, Clinton has received 523 of 561 superdelegates. The voters are taken for fools; insider elites know best. Like elections in Cuba, the process is for show, and the desired result is never in doubt.

This was preordained. Clinton wins the nomination notwithstanding the will or voice of the people. Democracy is messy because Americans refuse to goose step in unison. That is, except for superdelegates in the Democratic Party. Like a metronome, Debbie Wasserman Schultz keeps time so superdelegates’ heels click together in a straight line to vote for Hillary.

Ed J. Pozzuoli is the president of Florida-based law firm Tripp Scott. He is a Florida delegate to the 2016 Republican Convention in Cleveland.  He supports Donald Trump for President. He was the co-chairman of Jeb Bush for Governor (Broward). He also served as an integral member of the Bush/Cheney legal team in the 2000 presidential recount litigation. He is an active member of the Republican Party and served as the chairman of the Republican Party in Broward County, Florida.