GOP CONVENTION | Dems counter Republican message

CLEVELAND

The head of the Democratic National Committee was in Ohio Wednesday, contrasting the speeches of the four-day GOP convention this week to Democrats’ nomination event in Philadelphia next.

Florida Congresswoman and DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz told reporters covering the Republican National Convention that the Democratic National Convention “will be unrecognizable compared to the one that you are seeing play out this week.”

“You will speaker after speaker not only extol the virtues of our nominee and how proud we are to be making history &hellip by nominating the first woman president of the United States,” Wasserman Schultz said. “But you’ll also hear speaker after speaker talk about our policy proposals, our vision for America, the fact that we want to make sure that we can continue to build on the progress that we’ve been able to make after being in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression that was caused by Republican economic policies ...”

Democrats nationally, including presumptive the campaigns of presumptive presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Ohio Senate candidate and former Gov. Ted Strickland, have been actively countering Republican rhetoric about Clinton this week, via emailed statements and appearances in Cleveland.

On Wednesday, Wasserman Schultz joined Ohio Congresswoman Marcia Fudge and California Congressman Xavier Becerra in a late-morning press conference not too far from Quicken Loans Arena, where the Republican convention is taking place, to slam GOP nominee Donald Trump and his supporters.

Speakers this week, the Democratic trio said, were more apt to attack Clinton than to vocally support Trump — at times refraining from even mentioning his name.

That won’t be Democrats’ approach during their convention, Fudge said.

“You’re going to hear from people who believe in the promise of America,” she said. “You’re going to hear from people at our convention who understand this is already the greatest country in the world&hellip You’re not going to hear the anger, you’re not going to hear people who are just talking to hear themselves talk.”

Asked about comments made by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie Tuesday night — he led what he characterized as a prosecution of Clinton, with audience members shouting “guilty” in unison throughout — Fudge responded, “The American people should be happy Chris Christie is not the vice president of the United States&hellip Be glad that the one nut didn’t pick the other nut.”

Wasserman Schultz added, “Lie after lie was hurled. It’s unbelievable the negativity that is emanating from this convention ... All they have is attacks and lies against Hillary Clinton.”