JULY 27, 2015 / UPDATE
The girl in the video, Masha Anderson, has published her own account of the events on Medium.
From July 22-25, the
College Democrats of America (the official youth auxiliary of the DNC) hosted their annual national convention in Washington, DC. On the final day, July 25th, national board elections were held.
The election for Communications Director was contentious, largely because the President of CDA promised two different people the position. Despite keeping one member on the slate, she openly advocated for another candidate. She went as far as to tell the candidate on her slate that if he did not drop out, she would make his life "a living hell."
However, it was not just the President of the organization that behaved in this manner.
College students were harassed and threatened in wildly inappropriate manners, with certain members of the DNC staff claiming they would "ruin students lives," as seen in the video. One staffer told a student that he would never have a job in the Democratic Party if he attempted to challenge the current President of the organization.
In the end, as a sign of rebuking the President, both candidates took to the stage and asked the delegates to not vote for either of them. A majority of the delegates presented voted to abstain, yet the DNC still certified the election for the candidate that had the most votes of the two.
The lack of leadership from the College Democrats Convention and DNC staff resulted in widespread dissension and the majority of the delegates abstained from voting.
Bravo to this young woman for having the courage to stand up to corruption and injustice, even within our own party.
Transcript:
Elections Chair: The gentle lady is recognized.
Student: Hi guys, so my name is Masha Anderson and it's currently my freshman year at UWM in Wisconsin. I'm a chair of my college--
Elections Chair: --Do you have a motion to make?
Student: Closing statements.
Elections Chair: I'm sorry?
Student: Closing statements. Just for speaking. [INAUDIBLE -- something about the DNC.]
Elections Chair: Make it quick. You get one minute.
Student: Oh.
[AUDIENCE MURMURS]
Elections Chair: I'll give you a minute. [PAUSE] Yes. Go ahead.
Student: I'm from Wisconsin. We have Scott Walker as governor, and we still deal... and he's running for freakin' President right now. So dealing with BS from elected officials? It's a thing I know really well. [PAUSE] And thank you all for doing everything you've done. Thank you for your last year of service, but the corruption that I've seen in this election and this organization is ridiculous.
[AUDIENCE CLAPS AND CHEERS]
Student (continued): You're forcing people to get out of the elections. You're telling them you're going to ruin their lives. This is not the Democratic message that I--
Elections Chair: --This sounds like a personal threat directed at me.
Student: It's not. It's not. I can turn around. Would that be better?
Elections Chair: Are you finished with your statement?
Student: I'm not. I'm not. I'm definitely not. There are people out there who paid $500 for a plane tickets and are not voting.
[INAUDIBLE SHOUTING FROM AUDIENCE]
Student (continued): Oh, I can scream.
Elections Chair: I think we've heard enough.
Audience Member: I haven't.
Student: [ASKING CROWD] Have you guys had enough?
[AUDIENCE SHOUTING]
Elections Chair: What I've been notified by is that the DNC has not certified this election for Communications Director.
Audience Member: Shocking.
Student: Did they certify the other election we just had? Or is everything out?
Elections Chair: Can we take the mic from her please?
[STAFFER TAKES MIC FROM STUDENT. Audience members make various motions that are difficult to hear.]
Elections Chair: We will let you know when the DNC has certified elections. We will inform you. We will now recess.
“There are people out there who paid $500 for plane tickets and are not voting.”
“You’re forcing people to get out of elections. You’re telling them you’re going to ruin their lives.”
“This is not the Democratic message.”
“The corruption that I’ve seen in this election and this organization is ridiculous.”
Edited for context.