Contested Democratic Convention Could ‘Tear The Party Apart,’ Says Democratic Strategist

With the rise of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who his supporters claim is not favored by the Democratic establishment, as well as a primary field that is still fairly crowded, there is still the possibility of a contested Democratic National Convention (DNC) and a Sanders snub.

Speaking to Newsweek, longtime Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis talked about the possibility of such a situation.

“This thing is a mess. The possibility that it could happen could really tear the party apart,” Kofinis said.

A contested convention means that a candidate — such as Sanders — could win more delegates than any other candidate, but not the necessary majority. If no majority candidate wins the first round of delegates, the process moves to round two, which gives superdelegates a say in the process.

Given that Sanders is not the favorite of the moderates in the Democratic Party, a contested convention appears to pose the most risk to his nomination.

“But snubbing Sanders of a victory — something many of his supporters believe took place in 2016 against Hillary Clinton, who was backed by the establishment and most superdelegates — in such a situation would fracture the party and potentially deny Democrats the ability to oust President Donald Trump from office,” the Newsweek report reads.

538 says:

37% chance Bernie wins

27% chance contested convention

21% chance Biden wins pic.twitter.com/kcM3Vtm5nk

— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) February 6, 2020

Speaking to Tucker Carlson, progressive commentator Krystal Ball said she believes that Democratic establishment would rather Donald Trump win in 2020 than Sanders. According to Ball, such Democrats know they will be excluded from the circle of power should Sanders take office and would rather deal with Trump again until they get another chance to nominate a candidate of their choosing.

Although many believe the chaos of the Iowa caucuses is a sign the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is trying to rob Sanders of the nomination, The Hill reports that the Vermont senator claims he doesn’t yet believe this is the case.

“They screwed it up very badly is what the Iowa Democratic Party did but at the end of the day to me what is most important,” he said, although he said his campaign is “confident” that he won the state.

Sanders continues to perform well ahead of South Carolina’s February 29 Democratic primary. As The Inquisitr reported, a recent poll from East Carolina University shows Joe Biden sinking from 37 percent support to 28 percent. On the other hand, Sanders has surged from 14 percent to 20 percent.

Among the critical African-American base, Biden holds the lead with 36 percent support, and Sanders is in second with 20 percent.