A supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., holds up a sign call calling for Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee to be fired, Sunday, July 24, 2016, in Philadelphia. The Democratic National Convention starts Monday. (AP)

Simmering tensions that ran through the primary campaign between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders grew to a full boil Monday as the Democrats began their national convention.

Hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee show party leaders were not necessarily neutral brokers, seemingly tilting the scales toward Clinton’s candidacy. The revelations cost the chairwoman of the Democratic Party, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, her job.

Sanders has not withdrawn his endorsement of Clinton, and is expected to reiterate his support in a speech Monday night. But will Sanders’ supporters follow suit?

What Hillary Clinton Needs

David Leonhardt – The New York Times

Democrats obviously cannot rewrite Clinton’s biography. She has been in the national political spotlight for too long – 24 years, arguably longer than any nominee since James Madison – and too many people view her negatively. But the Democrats can still make progress. They can appeal to swing voters and disaffected liberals who will never love Clinton but can come at least to admire major parts of her personality and life.

The best model is George H.W. Bush in 1988, who arrived at the Republican convention in New Orleans with some broadly similar weaknesses—- and who also had the tricky task of winning a third straight term for his party….

Today, we mostly remember that New Orleans convention for the flawed selection of Dan Quayle as vice president and for a booby trap Bush set for himself: “Read my lips: No new taxes.” But in real time, the convention was a major achievement. Bush came across as a happy warrior reveling in the campaign, both self-aware and confident.

The Late, Great Democratic Party

Stephen Moore – The Washington Times

Democratic U.S. vice presidential candidate Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) waves with his presidential running-mate Hillary Clinton after she introduced him during a campaign rally in Miami, Florida, U.S. July 23, 2016. (Reuters)

This week the Democrats officially coronate the battered Hillary Clinton as the torch bearer for the party. She has slouched to the finish line. She is tired and the country is tired of her. Sorry, Democrats, no do-overs. You’re stuck with her.

But it isn’t just Hillary who is out of touch and in tragic decline, it’s the whole Democratic Party. My friends at the American Enterprise Institute reported last week that the Democratic platform is silent on “economic growth.” Maybe that is because across the country during the past eight years of Obamanomics economic growth has been silent.

This is an exaggeration, of course, but not much of one. We have had 2 percent growth under President Obama, but that’s an economy treading water. It’s sister-kissing growth that, yes, has thankfully kept us out of recession, but doesn’t lead to much if any rise in living standards.

Can Hope Trump Fear in Philadelphia?

E.J. Dionne – The Washington Post

Democrats will not only be arguing that Clinton offers a better future; they will be vigorously defending President Obama’s legacy.

Republicans may come to regret their decision to harness Clinton and Obama together as twin authors of a national apocalypse. At a time when the president’s approval ratings have been healthy, the GOP helped lock in Obama’s strongest supporters behind the woman who had once been his political adversary….

This convention will also be an opportunity to offer a gentle reminder that the last time someone named Clinton was president, the nation enjoyed a run of peace and prosperity. During the GOP gathering, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) declared that incomes had not recovered since their high in 1999. Trump made the same point using the year 2000. Neither mentioned who was president back then.

Demonstrators make their way around downtown, Monday, July 25, 2016, in Philadelphia, during the first day of the Democratic National Convention. On Sunday, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., announced she would step down as DNC chairwoman at the end of the party’s convention, after some of the 19,000 emails, presumably stolen from the DNC by hackers, were posted to the website Wikileaks. (AP)

Does Hillary Get It?

Robert Reich – AlterNet

Does Hillary Clinton understand that the biggest divide in American politics is no longer between the right and the left, but between the anti-establishment and the establishment?…

This is a big reason why Donald Trump won the Republican nomination. It’s also why Bernie Sanders took 22 states in the Democratic primaries, including a majority of Democratic primary voters under age 45.

There are no longer “moderates.”  There’s no longer a “center.” There’s authoritarian populism (Trump) or democratic populism (which had been Bernie’s “political revolution,” and is now up for grabs).