Mitch Perry
Speaking at the Florida Democratic Convention in Lake Buena Vista Saturday morning, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz grew emotional in talking about something must be done to try to stem gun violence.
Referring to have attending the funeral service for the Reverend Clementa Pinckney in Charleston, South Carolina earlier this year, as well as a similar service for those killed in Tucson, Arizona four years ago, the DNC Chair literally began to shout as the audience of Democrats exploded in applause.
“It is in our power to do something about it,” she began quietly, before building in momentum. “Democrats. We must close the gun show loophole. Democrats, we must require background checks for all gun purchases! We cannot sit idly by, as thousands upon thousands of lives be mowed down by firearms without speaking and standing up, as individuals, as parents..as sisters and brothers, we need to stand together and fight the NRA!”
She also spent considerable time talking about voting rights, and chiding Republican presidential candidates like Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz for dismissing concerns about the Voting Rights Act or voter ID laws.
“Republicans win when fewer people vote,” she said. “We know that they’ve had to try to rig the outcome, and rig the process process in order to make sure that their candidates have a shot.”
But then the South Florida Congresswoman the national Democratic Party chair got real. That while so much emphasis is put on winning the White House, the fact is since Barack Obama was elected, over 1,000 Democrats across the nation have been thrown out of office on a congressional and state level.
“Despite Americans overwhelmingly supporting the issues and values that the Democratic Party fights for every day, our down ballot candidates are not connecting with voters the way they need to be,” she said, bringing the cheers down to a hush.
“Now I know I’m supposed to be up here to be a cheerleader, but we have to sound the alarm bells. It’s not all about money. We have to educate our Florida voters on how critical is to show up at midterms and vote down ballot.”
