Bernie Sanders refused to call for more resignations, but strongly hinted they would be welcome. | Getty Sanders: We need a different direction for the DNC

PHILADELPHIA — Bernie Sanders has a vision for the future of the Democratic National Committee in the post-Debbie Wasserman Schultz era, but he’s not yet willing to get into too many specifics while the convention rages on.

“I think we need a DNC which goes in a very different direction,” said Sanders at a Bloomberg Politics breakfast with reporters here, echoing a common refrain while evaluating the party committee after the chairwoman stepped down in the wake of an embarrassing email dump that suggested her staff favored Hillary Clinton in the primary.


Sanders refused to call for more resignations, but strongly hinted they would be welcome.

“I honestly don’t know very many of the people there,” he said. "But my guess is we’re going to need a new leadership, new direction, and new personnel."

Fresh off his sprawling convention speech on Monday night, Sanders kept up his criticism of the DNC administration that he has long railed against as an embodiment of the political establishment. Yet he declined to specifically suggest any replacements for interim chair Donna Brazile: “I have some idea of folks, I can’t give you their names because I don’t even know if they’re interested in it."

Sanders also signaled a break from the strategy of his own campaign, which was focused heavily on large rallies and millions of dollars worth of television ads, suggesting that the party instead spend “a little more money on grassroots organizing and a little less money on TV advertising."

The Vermont senator has started turning his leftover campaign infrastructure toward an effort to recruit new candidates for races up and down the ballot, and he said that’s the kind of work the party needs to be more focused on, as well as increasing voter turnout during the midterms.

Still, Capitol Hill’s longest serving independent was careful to keep his distance from the party whose convention he’s attending after running for its nomination.

“We are trying to get people to run” for offices all over the country, he repeated. But he stopped short of sticking to the party line. “I suspect that most would run as Democrats."

