Hillary Clinton’s allies at the Democratic National Committee have pulled out all the stops to ensure she is crowned the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee.
Supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders can now cite drastic changes to donation rules instituted by presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008 as further proof the process is rigged against them.
The Washington Post revealed Friday that a ban on donations from federal lobbyists and political action committees was quietly lifted months ago – a move anathema to Sanders’ campaign. The self-described socialist routinely boasts that his supporters’ average donation is $27.
The newspaper, which deemed the move a “sweeping reversal” of Obama’s attempt to “change how Washington works,” was confirmed by three Democrat lobbyists who said they have already received solicitations from the DNC. The individuals requested anonymity before discussing the issue.
“It is a major step in the wrong direction,” reform advocate Fred Wertheimer told the newspaper. “It is completely out of touch with the clear public rejection of the role of political money in Washington.”
The new rules will feel like salt in the wounds of liberal voters who watched Clinton collect more delegates than Sanders in New Hampshire despite getting clobbered in the state’s primary election 60 to 38 percent.
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Former presidential candidate Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who dropped out of the race after a disappointing Iowa caucus, warned in September 2015 of the DNC’s desire to protect Clinton at all costs. He said the number of debates scheduled was a clear indicator the DNC wanted to guarantee a specific outcome.
“I’m told that this is the prerogative of the chair,” O’Malley said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Sept. 10, 2015, WND reported. “There’s always an inclination, I think, for old relationships to kind of circle the wagons and protect one another.”
