Divisions plague Democrats ahead of convention

Philadelphia, July 25 

US Democrats open a four-day convention to nominate Hillary Clinton for the White House on a divisive note, with a furor over embarrassing leaked emails threatening to derail what they hoped would be a message of party unity.

Democratic National Committee (DNC) head Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned on Sunday, effective at the end of the convention, after more than 19,000 DNC emails showed party officials working to undermine the insurgent presidential campaign of Clinton's primary rival, US Senator Bernie Sanders.

The disclosure angered Sanders' supporters and complicated Democratic plans to portray a convention image of no-drama competence in contrast to the volatile Donald Trump, who was formally nominated for president at a chaotic Republican convention in Cleveland last week.

It also cast a shadow over preparations in Philadelphia for Clinton's coronation as the nominee to face Trump in the November 8 presidential election. The former first lady, US senator and secretary of state will be the first woman nominated for president by a major US political party.

The cache of emails leaked by the WikiLeaks website on Friday disclosed that DNC officials explored ways to undercut Sanders, including raising questions about whether the Vermont lawmaker, who is Jewish, was really an atheist.

Sanders supporters were already dismayed that Clinton passed over liberal favourites like US Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts to select the more moderate US Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia as her vice-presidential running mate.

"You can't roll over people and expect them to come up smiling," said James Zogby, a Sanders supporter and president of the Arab American Institute.

Norman Solomon, a Sanders delegate from California and national coordinator for the Bernie Delegates Network, a group of more than 1,200 Sanders delegates, said Clinton had been an enabler of the DNC's activity.

He questioned why Wasserman Schultz was staying on through the convention. “She should have resigned many months ago,” he said. “Now the question looms over us here in Philadelphia: Why not immediately? Why wait till the end of the week?”

The Clinton camp questioned whether Russians may have had a hand in the hack attack on the party's emails out of an interest in helping Trump, who has exchanged words of praise with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Republican campaign officials dismissed that argument.

Sanders could begin to calm some of the concerns of his supporters on Monday, when he will be featured on the first night of the convention along with first lady Michelle Obama.

An aide said his speech would echo his endorsement of Clinton and his call to rally against Trump delivered earlier this month in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Clinton has said she would present a positive vision of the country in Philadelphia, where the Democratic National Party has lined up a galaxy of Americans to match the historic event.

Topping the list will be US President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle and Clinton's husband and former US President Bill Clinton.

On the first day itself, the convention among others would be addressed by Sanders and Michelle. 

Neera Tanden is the only Indian-American to be listed as a speaker during the convention. — Agencies

Trump leads in new national poll

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has taken a lead, albeit a small one and within margin of error, over her Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in a new national poll, the first after last week's Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Trump (48 per cent) leads Clinton (45 per cent) by three per cent in a two-way match up, CNN/ORC said. In a four-way contest with two other presidential candidates from minor parties, Trump is leading Clinton by five percentage points.

Supporters of Bernie Sanders angry

The emails angered many supporters of Bernie Sanders who were already dismayed by Hillary Clinton's choice on Friday of low-key US Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia as her vice presidential running mate.

Sanders, who has endorsed Clinton and will speak on her behalf to the convention on Monday, said he would have preferred she pick US Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a favourite of the party's liberal wing, as her No. 2

Carrying pitchforks meant to portray Clinton as the devil, hundreds of Sanders supporters took to the streets of Philadelphia earlier on Sunday to say they felt betrayed by the DNC

Thousands of people from various organisations, labour unions and groups have also descended on this city to protest against the policies of Hillary Clinton

E-mail scandal rocks party

The Chairwoman of the Democratic party Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned, hours before the party’s convention, dealing a blow to hopes of demonstrating unity in the face of the threat from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump

Congresswoman Schultz, Chairwoman of Democratic National Committee in a statement announced her resignation after the emails leaked by Wikileaks showed that she tended to support Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders in the party's presidential primaries. As head of the party, Schultz is supposed to be neutral

The Trump Campaign manager Paul Manafort in a statement demanded that Clinton drop out of the race, following resignation of Schultz. “Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned over her failure to secure the DNC's email servers and the rigged system she set up with the Clinton campaign,” he said