July 24th - Week 8

     On July 24th, I watched This Week hosted by George Stephanopoulos on ABC. This week, he hosted the show from the DNC in  Philadelphia, the eve of the convention. George's guests included ABC News Correspondant Johnathan Karl, Clinton Campaign Manager Robby Mook, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, and Trump Campaign Chair Paul Manafort. His pundits on the round table were Vice Chair of the Democratic Party Donna Brazile, Co-chair of CPC Keith Ellison, Oklahoma Representative Tom Cole, and ABC Political Analyst Matthew Dowd. In spirit of the DNC, I will be discussing the recent events in the Democratic Party, such as Clinton's VP pick and the email leaks involving the chairperson of the party.

      Clinton has chosen a Vice Presidential nominee, but many were surprised by her pick, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine. Many people did not see Kaine as the best choice for Hillary, including members in both the Democratic and Republican party. He has been considered controversial because he is pro-life and a Democrat, but he has stated he will keep his "personal opinion" out of his politics. Many Republicans favor Kaine, which may bring some anti-Trump Republicans to vote for Hillary, despite the factors they do not like of her. 

      The Democratic National Convention was held in Philadelphia this week, and many people had high expectations for the event, saying it will be an optimistic time for the party, unlike the RNC held last week. Brazile said the Republican convention was gloom and dark, but the DNC will be optimistic. Just as Tom Cole stated, Democrats like to say "everything will be alright, just trust us." The Republican convention was optimistic, but it was not about "fluff" and reassurance that the future will be better. Republicans told the truth about what was happening in the country and how they would make it better, which is optimistic, but in a different way. 

      Some controversies have occurred in the party this week. Chairperson of the Democratic party Debbie Wasserman Schultz and other members of the Democratic committee exchanged emails discussing how they favored Clinton over Sanders throughout the primaries. This has sprung up theories that Sanders never had a chance to become the Democratic nominee or that the committee has done everything in their power to ensure Clinton would win the primaries. Democrats, mainly, Clinton supporters, have turned this into an issue about Trump's relationship with Russia and Putin's regime. Manafort has stated the supposed relationship between Trump and Putin is fabricated. On the other side of the issue, Republicans say the email leak is yet another email controversy for the Democratic Party and should be treated as such. Since Sunday, Debbie Wasserman Schultz has resigned from her position in the party, which ensures people's beliefs that the system was rigged and unfair. 

      To conclude, it seems as if the Democratic Party is scrambling and disorganized. It has seemed to split between Sanders supporters and Clinton supporters. This is similar to the state of the Republican party a few weeks ago. The upcoming weeks in politics should be interesting, and I am eager to see the events of the next few weeks unfold.