DNC Chair Race: PEREZ WINS (DNC asks all staffers to resign)

[Oville]

Just got two things to say about this:

1. I like Keith Ellison as head of the DNC but I wish Bernie would put his effort and political capital into starting a separate progressive party as an alternative to the Democrats.

2. The 50 state strategy that Dean employed before seemed like a good idea conceptually but it really just lead to a bunch of conservative democrats (who might as well have been Republicans)to be elected. Those "Blue Dog Democrats" were bigger adversaries towards Obamacare than the Republicans were and helped contribute to an already watered-down health care bill becoming even more watered down.

 

[JahFocus CS]

Just got two things to say about this:

1. I like Keith Ellison as head of the DNC but I wish Bernie would put his effort and political capital into starting a separate progressive party as an alternative to the Democrats.

2. The 50 state strategy that Dean employed before seemed like a good idea conceptually but it really just lead to a bunch of conservative democrats (who might as well have been Republicans)to be elected. Those "Blue Dog Democrats" were bigger adversaries towards Obamacare than the Republicans were and helped contribute to an already watered-down health care bill becoming even more watered down.

With regards to your second point about conservative Dems being elected, I agree. A lot of these places outside urban areas are still pretty conservative. We need to open up space at the grassroots level for people to engage in struggles and thereby gain a political education. You can't always debate someone into seeing how things are, oftentimes they'll stumble upon the truth themselves in the course of experience. To that end, we really need to take a step back and focus on local, state, and congressional politics to shift things left. I'll keep saying it, we need to fight back right-to-work and make it a priority to repeal Taft-Hartley to allow workers more space to unionize and engage directly in struggles with bosses. Let the working class find its own solutions as opposed to trying to run the perfect candidate that will convince everyone to vote for them.

 

[Spin]

I don't know what the Dems are going to do. The mid terms aren't usually strong for them either. While they definitely need to focus on jobs, I don't think going as far left as Bernie Sanders is the answer. If Trump does manage to get the infrastructure spending going, it's going to take alot of steam out of the lefts argument.

 

[Tate]

Harry Reid Endorses Keith Ellison For DNC Chair | The Huffington Post

Looking like a shoe in.

 

[No1]

Reid endorses Ellison for DNC chairman

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid endorsed Rep. Keith Ellison for Democratic National Committee chairman.

"My friend Keith Ellison is a terrific leader and a strong progressive who knows how to get things done. Now is the time for new thinking and a fresh start at the DNC. Now is the time for Keith," the retiring Nevada Democratic senator said in a statement provided to POLITICO on Sunday.


Reid's backing adds to the growing list of lawmakers who support a potential Ellison bid to succeed interim chairwoman Donna Brazile.

Ellison hasn't formally announced his candidacy yet but already Sen. Charles Schumer and Rep. Raul Grijalva have backed the Minnesota congressman. Ellison is expected to announce his bid Monday.

If Ellison does run for DNC chair, he will face former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, a former DNC chairman who announced he's running for the job last week. Other Democrats are likely to jump into the race as well.

 

[Scoop]

Ellison: Democrats need to focus less on donors
By LOUIS NELSON

11/13/16 11:48 AM EST

Rep. Keith Ellison, reported to be planning a run for chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said his party will mount a comeback after a disastrous 2016 election cycle by focusing harder on voters and less on donors.

Ellison (D-Minn.) has not yet officially announced plans to mount a bid to be his party’s chairman but has already earned the endorsement of incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders. If he were to win, he would be given the unenviable task of rebuilding the suddenly scuffling Democratic Party that is without a clear path forward after it failed not only to win the White House but also a majority in the Senate, both of which were anticipated before Election Day.

The Minnesota congressman told ABC’s “This Week”: “You’ve got to have a vision to strengthen the grassroots” at the Democratic Party’s local levels and that “the most important criteria for a DNC chair is going to be vision.”

“Well, I do believe that we should have to make the voters first. Not the donors first. I love the donors and we thank them, but it has to be that the guys in barbershop, the lady at the diner, the folks who are worried about their plant is going to close — they’ve got to be our focus,” Ellison said. “They’ve got to be a laser-beam focus on everything we do, and everything we do should animate and empower them at the grassroots level for working people across this country. That’s how we come back.”

Donald Trump’s victorious presidential campaign “picked on people’s fears or anxieties and he gave them somebody to blame,” Ellison said, while Hillary Clinton’s failed to connect with the working class voters that have historically backed Democrats in states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. He said the late October announcement by FBI Director James Comey that the bureau was examining additional evidence related to Clinton’s long-running email scandal “changed the conversation” around the two candidates.

“The conversation should’ve been about middle class people. The conversation should’ve been about how to raise the minimum wage and strengthen Social Security,” he said. “But then we started talking about this whole e-mail stuff again.”

Ellison would not officially commit to running for the DNC chair, telling host George Stephanopoulos only that “I’ll have something to say real soon.”

Filmmaker and liberal activist Michael Moore said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Ellison, an African-American and the first Muslim elected to Congress, is “the exact way to go,” because he is representative of the nation’s changing demographics.

Ellison: Democrats need to focus less on donors

 

[Broke Wave]

Did progressives actually win?

 

[No1]

Did progressives actually win?

All the centrists took Ls, they have no choice. Look around the country. One third of the Democratic House contingent is from California, NY and MA. Basically, the only Dems left are the ones in safely Democratic districts. There's no one "to the center" to cater to in order to protect their seats besides the people up for reelection in 2018, and Trump just won their states playing populist. Playing progressive works in their favor. I would run with the whole "democratic party has come home" angle.

 

[Broke Wave]

All the centrists took Ls, they have no choice. Look around the country. One third of the Democratic House contingent is from California, NY and MA. Basically, the only Dems left are the ones in safely Democratic districts. There's no one "to the center" to cater to in order to protect their seats besides the people up for reelection in 2018, and Trump just won their states playing populist. Playing progressive works in their favor. I would run with the whole "democratic party has come home" angle.

Breh if anything the election of Trump shows to me how the country can be pushed in any direction as long as the optics are good. We've all seen the polls with how popular socialism is in America piece by piece, yet the Dems have never wanted to fight on those grounds. It's a new day in America. We always knew that the biggest roadblock to truly progressive policies were the Neo Liberals.

 

[BrandonBanks]

Warren 2020 with young Bernard as VP so he can chill or They could even run Michelle Obama...at this point the pickings are slim because they have no one anyone wants in office now but Bernie

No, no, no

Bad idea, unless we want to lose again.

The DNC does not need to run another woman in 2020. She will NOT win (Warren nor Michelle).

Plus we just had a former president's wife lose to a reality star fascist, and some of u think it's a bright idea to try around and have another former president's wife run again? And if white ppl wouldn't even vote for a white woman, you think they're gonna vote for a black one? And don't say "b-b-but they voted for Obama!!" Obama was a man, and plus we can see, ppl view the wives different than the husbands.

Also don't need to run Tim Kaine's forgettable unpersonsble ass but I'm hearing talk that it's a likely possibility

 

[BrandonBanks]

Please tell me MOM doesn't stand for Martin omalley. If either he or Dean get it I really might just drink myself to death

It does . And they're saying Tim Kaine, Michelle Obama, Warren or Bernie for 2020. Starting to think they're doing this on purpose. i fukk with Bernie but he will be 80 in 2020

 

[I_Got_Da_Burna]

Reid endorses Ellison for DNC chairman

@ThreeLetterAgency

 

[Dr. Acula]

Remember you dont need to take from the Republicans, the Dems need to motivate working class people of all colors who stayed home

Yep yep. This is what made this appeal to the middle politics a lose strategy. Energize your base to win. Not try to steal from the other side. Defense wins games and elections.

 

[Dr. Acula]

I don't know what the Dems are going to do. The mid terms aren't usually strong for them either. While they definitely need to focus on jobs, I don't think going as far left as Bernie Sanders is the answer. If Trump does manage to get the infrastructure spending going, it's going to take alot of steam out of the lefts argument.

Well don't forget the democratic sweep in 2006. I think trump will be a motivator. I want these guys to try and repeal gay marriage, abortion, dismissing racial injustice, and every piece of left progress made. This will be a reminder to get people to the polls for midterms. The Democratic Party also needs to find a way to market the need for their voters to come out.

 

[King Kreole]

Did progressives actually win?