DNC sketch: Debbie Wasserman Schultz exits

Reporting from PHILADELPHIA —  On the plus side, Democrats were spared the spectacle of hundreds of delegates booing the chair of the Democratic National Committee as she walked onstage to run the nominating convention. Still, it is a bit awkward that the party boss, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, quit her job just one day before taking up the convention gavel.

Blame WikiLeaks — possibly with the help of Russian intelligence agents — for bringing her down. The hacked internal communications were mostly boring stuff, but key messages confirmed a bias toward the Hillary Clinton campaign among Schultz and her DNC staff.

This favoritism is not a surprise — Bernie Sanders and his supporters have been complaining about it since the primary campaign began — but the new disclosure hit at the very moment that Democrats are trying to placate disgruntled Bernie fans and unify the party. Terrible timing.

Schultz, who, in her day job, is a congresswoman from Florida, has been less than popular in the party for quite some time. Even President Obama is reported to have been avoiding her whenever possible. Obama could have done Clinton a favor by firing Schultz himself, but, according to Politico, he opted to let things slide to save himself the grief.

Now, there’s a bit of grief in Philadelphia about starting the convention with the party chair’s departure in the headlines. Still, that is better than boos from the Bernie delegates when the TV cameras are on and the whole country is watching.

David.Horsey@latimes.com

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