Democrats discuss impact of DNC email leak

Connecticut Democrats at home and in Philadelphia weighed in Monday on the email leak that prompted Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to resign.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney said the Democratic National Committee email leak or possible hack, which showed Schultz favoring Clinton over Sanders during the bruising primary, “reinforces the notion that never write an email that you don’t want to have as a headline the next day.”

He said that’s something every new hire in a Congressional office of a political operation should “get drilled into their mindset.”

Courtney, speaking after an unrelated press conference at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, said this “obviously is a distraction and a bit of a sour note.” He encouraged Bernie Sanders supporters to follow his lead in endorsing Hillary Clinton.

Sanders is expected to headline the convention tonight. However, he struggled in a speech to his supporters Monday afternoon to get his supporters to fall in line and endorse Clinton.

The crowd chanted “We Want Bernie” as Sanders tried to explain why they need to defeat Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who is headed to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia Monday afternoon, said he’s looking forward to a convention where they nominate the next president of the United States.

“That’s the important event,” Blumenthal said.

He didn’t answer questions about the DNC email leak, which the F.B.I. is now investigating.

Al Simon, a Sanders delegate from Windsor who is in Philadelphia, said he felt the leaks “confirmed what many of us within the Bernie movement believed” that the DNC was “actively trying to help” the Clinton campaign.

He said that most of Connecticut’s Sanders delegates are upset at the leaks, and are glad Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned as the chair of the DNC. However, they are also angry that she’s immediately joined the Clinton campaign as the honorary chair of a program to elect Democrats across the country.

However, Simon said he hopes the Democratic Party will ultimately unite around Clinton to defeat Republican nominee Donald Trump.

“The Bernie delegates are not here for Bernie, we’re here for ourselves,” he said, adding that Sanders ultimately did not earn the necessary votes and delegates to become the nominee, even though he wishes things were different.

There doesn’t seem to be a clear consensus about how Sanders’ supporters will handle the situation.

Earlier in the day, delegates “booed” Schultz as she tried to address Florida delegates. A few hours later, the Sun Sentinel reported that Schultz won’t gavel in the convention.