Debbie Wasserman Shultz is the leader the Democratic Party needs. She recognized the danger posed to our candidate by a prolonged Primary race, against a populist demagogue.

In 2016, the DNC started with a candidate above water in public opinion polls and approval ratings. A candidate who was named the most admired woman in the world for 20 uninterrupted years. The most qualified and experienced candidate in history, and a chance for America to make history once again by making anything possible.

In 2008, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama fought a long and bitter Primary. Through it all, they never once introduced an attack line that could be used against the other in a General Election. Hillary Clinton lost, and united a fractured party over the course of 20 minutes as she delivered one of the most inspiring concession speeches in memory. Her full-throated endorsement of Obama continued through November.

In 2016, Bernie Sanders introduced every attack line later used by Donald Trump. Bernie Sanders refused to concede the election when all paths to the nomination were closed, forcing the Democratic candidate to divert money and resources to a prolonged and unnecessary Primary battle. Bernie Sanders actively campaigned to disqualify the Democratic candidate throughout the rust belt, and did nothing to mitigate the damage. Bernie Sanders refused to squash the 'rigged' fantasy, which evolved into rhetoric used by Donald Trump.

Bernie Sanders couldn't bring himself to go further than admitting HRC was the lesser of two evils. With Donald Trump's win, Bernie is suddenly reinvigorated. We see boundless energy campaigning against Trump over the past few days alone- energy that would have been useful over the past few months. Bernie Sanders wanted to say "I told you so" and he wants to use this defeat to influence a political party he has already proved he has no understanding of.

This is not Bernie Sanders' party. Bernie Sanders couldn't win the majority of Dems, he couldn't win a general election, and he remains just as irrelevant as he was before 2015. Do not let Bernie Sanders hijack the DNC. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. The DNC must address gerrymandering, voter suppression, and ultimately, the electoral college. Our platform isn't broken.

After playing a significant role in losing this election for us, Bernie Sanders and others want to override the will of POC, women, LGBT, and religious minorities, to pervert the Democratic platform to cater exclusively to the issues of income inequality- for the purpose of bringing working class white men back into the fold. Bernie Sanders has repeatedly dismissed social issues for a half-baked plan to dismantle financial institutions.

Unfortunately, the next four years with America's most famous racist as President (and our most effective gay-basher as VP), will prove just how important the social causes the DNC has championed since the 1960's are. We must stick to these principles.

During the Primary, Debbie Wasserman Shultz proved a keen awareness of the threats facing the Democratic Party, and she has my vote.