Wasserman Schultz primary rival floats rumor about Bernie leading DNC

Tim Canova, the left-leaning Democrat hoping to unseat Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s (D-Fla.), floated a rumor during a Monday chat on Reddit that Democrats want Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders to replace her as chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

“I have heard a rumor that some Democrats want to offer the DNC to Bernie Sanders if he does not get the Democratic nomination,” Canova said Monday during a Reddit “Ask Me Anything.”

{mosads}“Perhaps that would help unify the party, I don’t know. Like many, I’m still hoping Bernie will get the nomination at the convention next month.”

Giving the DNC chairmanship to Sanders, a Vermont senator who is not even a member of the Democratic Party, seems like a long shot at best. 

Sanders has yet to concede the Democratic primary to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who has an insurmountable lead in delegates. Sanders has been pushing Clinton to accept changes to the Democratic platform, which would implicitly be linked to his backing. He’s also called for Wasserman Schultz to be replaced.

Canova has been endorsed by Sanders, a mark of how much the DNC chairwoman irked the Vermont senator during the Democratic primary.

And Canova has echoed some of Sanders’s public criticisms.

“What should be done at the DNC?” Canova asked during the Reddit chat. “Ban corporate lobby donations to the DNC (Wasserman Schultz had reversed Pres. Obama’s 2008 ban) and get rid of superdelegates, many of whom are corporate lobbyists.

“Have the DNC work with all state parties to press them for universal registration and open primaries. And to ensure that the votes cast are the votes counted, real monitoring of the software of voting machines and tabulations.”