DNC Chair Blocked Resolution to Support Diplomacy With Iran

The response from the progressive grassroots to the maneuver by the DNC chair has been furious.

Zaid Jilani is an AlterNet staff writer. Follow @zaidjilani on Twitter

As President Obama girds for an upcoming congressional vote aimed at killing his diplomatic agreement with Iran, the numbers are leaning his way. Thirty-one senators in the Democratic caucus support the agreement, which means it will be difficult to amass the two-thirds of senators needed to block it.

Yet the opposition, led by various groups affiliated with the country's pro-Israel lobby, are pulling out all the stops, spending tens of millions of dollars on television commercials and other lobbying efforts. The lobby's reliable allies such as Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) predictably came out for their position against the deal.

More troubling is that the head of the Democratic National Committee, Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, D-FL, has reportedly not made up her own position on the agreement, yet apparently blocked a resolution to support the deal at the DNC meeting last week. 

As an alternative, DNC Resolutions Committee chair Jim Zogby organized an informal letter in favor of the deal that received the support of the “overwhelming majority” of DNC members.

The response from the progressive grassroots to the maneuver by the DNC chair has been outrage.

“If Debbie Wasserman-Schultz can stop the Democratic party from voting on endorsing a Democratic president’s peace deal, and Chuck Schumer is allowed to take over leadership in the Senate after he helps the Republicans sabotage diplomacy, then it’s fair to say Democratic leadership no longer represents the values and goals of the Democratic party,” said Credo Action's Zack Malitz. 

http://www.alternet.org/world/dnc-chair-blocked-resolution-support-diplomacy-iran?sc=fb