With the Republican National Convention out of the way, conservatives and liberals alike turned their attention to Philadelphia. These conventions represent the political Olympics of the United States with platform changes, speeches and, of course, the all important official nomination. The Democratic National Committee has recently come under scrutiny following the release of over 20,000 emails revealing everything from racist voter demographic designations to a conspiracy to sabotage the Bernie Sanders Campaign in favor of Hillary Clinton. To pull together, this weeks article I called on my fellow young conservatives. Most of them dislike Trump and we all hate Hillary and we've all been observing the convention fiascoes with bated breath to see what emerges. Here's what they had to say.
1. The celebrity presence is strong with this one.
There is an overwhelming celebrity presence surrounding the DNC. Lena Dunham, Demi Lovato, America Ferrera, Jason Collins and Sarah Silverman to name only a few. These Hollywood men and women performed between performances and speeches of their own, the Democrats' personal red carpet has been at the very least interesting to watch but it certainly speaks volumes about the gap of intellectual diversity among this generation's most celebrated artists, athletes and influencers. It also brings to focus the age gap in the Republican party and the lack of reach Republican's have with younger voters.
Above: Lena Dunham (left) and America Ferrera (right) speak at the Democratic National Convention. Dunham currently stars in the show HBO show, "Girls," while Ferrera formerly starred on the show "Ugly Betty."
"I felt like I was watching the VMA's or some awards show because it was more about the celebrity endorsements than raw politics and it was ridiculous. And now everyone is going to vote for Hillary because their favorite band or movie star says to. I feel like our generation is so easy to sway." -- Kyra Thompson, 19, Florida Polytechnic
2. The Democrats could not have been more divided.
While the party establishment struggled to regain control and rally support behind Hillary, any semblance of Democratic party unity was thoroughly burned to the ground. DNC emails published on WikiLeaks revealed a long running plan to sabotage the Bernie Sanders campaign and ensure that Hillary would become the nominee. Sanders' supporters protested the convention this week, yelling "Hell no, DNC, we won't vote for Hillary!" Bernie was booed on-stage as he endorsed Hillary and asked his followers to accept her as the nominee and Bernie or Bust became a common slogan at the convention.
"Once again, the Democratic party is hyped up and rallying behind Hillary Clinton through speeches brought to you by the political elite." - Jackson Stephenson, 18, University of South Florida
3. Corruption was rampant throughout the DNC.
The leaked DNC emails revealed more than just the plot to sabotage Bernie Sanders campaign. The emails showed evidence of potential FEC violations, racist language used to describe voter demographic groups and, maybe most shockingly, exactly the type of benefits that top Democratic party donors receive. Specifically, the hacked messaged evidenced that top donors of the DNC were receiving federal appointments. If the Democrats wanted to continue to destroy the faith the American public had vested in them — with Hillary's lack of charges, the Bernie campaign sabotage, and now the federal appointments — this was exactly the way to do it.
"If people think the scandals and issues of Clinton and trump will just stop, they are dead wrong." - Andy Whitaker, 18, George Washington University
4. There was a lot of pandering going on, but directed at an unexpected audience.
Republicans regularly complain that Democrats are pandering to minority groups and women. The DNC turned that on its head, taking aim at Never Trump conservatives and advertising to the moderates who believe Trump is a racist fascist bent on destroying the country. With speeches like "I am a Republican voting for Hillary" and Obama's own speech on American greatness and unity (following last week's comments on America's racism and brokenness), the Democrats had their work cut out for them trying to make up for lost "Bernie or Bust" votes.
"The one thing I can take away from the DNC this year, is that they're pandering to Republicans. In an effort to sway Republicans dissatisfied with Trump, we'll see more Reagan-esque comments like those in President Obama's speech. - Andy Paloumpis, 21, Ripon College
5. Democracy was overruled by the Democratic Party.
This one is self-explanatory. The Democrats decided before any primary or caucus that Hillary Clinton was the nominee. The DNC intentionally sabotaged the campaign of a candidate, breaking with their declared stance of neutrality. The DNC decided to award power in exchange for cash, a practice that is entirely unethical and antithetical to democracy. This is not how fair and just elections happen; this is how an oligarchy rises.
The election this year has boiled down to the two candidates with the highest unfavorability ratings ever in an American presidential race. It speaks volumes that over half of Americans feel they are voting against a candidate they hate, not for a candidate they like. With this in mind, there really is only one way to close out this article.
"Good luck America." -- Aida Vazquez-Soto, 18, University of South Florida
