The Next DNC Chair: TOM PEREZ WINS, makes Ellison deputy chair

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Howard Dean was fantastic a decade back but not is a lobbyist for the healthcare industry & the last thing Dems need is another lobbyist running the party!

Big news BTW - Chuck Schumer (Who would have though) Senate Minority Leader & firebrand Elizabeth Warren endorses Ellison for DNC Chair (Warren only calls him "terrific" & raises concerns about Dean while Schumer has reportedly rumoured to informally verbally support).

Now Nancy Pelosi should throw her support & Ellison will go in as a very strong candidate!

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A Socialist Jew as a leading Dem face after a Black Muslim Communist Arab Kenyan President & now a racist anit-semite Ellison as DNC Chair - Right?

Remember the attacks on Obama? I am not surprised on these attacks on Ellison. This maybe a fight but the Bernie wing is taking over & when they do, a lot of young people & progressive will come in & revitalize the party throwing out some useless political hacks!

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I am okay with these forums where people can share their ideas. Dems won't win with a TPP supporting Perez in the rust-belt.

Ellison spoke for Bernie's Our Revolution thing & he was surprisingly a decent speaker.

Bernie just announced they have got a whopping 600,000 signatures for Ellison as DNC Chair so far - That is pretty decent!

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I am sorry, but TPP would have been a disaster, it is on a scale where it is multiple times the scale of NAFTA & would have destroyed the li'l manufacturing that is well. I have substantial material on NAFTA analyzing it, I would definitely inform how TPP is bad - But that is irrelevant now.

If Dems want to take back the rust belt, they need someone in tune with workers, the working class & union folks - Not some1 who supports TPP.

Secondly you can't have a sit in your desk & call donor DNC Chair like DWS. That is what led the Dem party to utter destruction. If the DNC doesn't go beyond just fund-raising & reform, then it will become like the Whigs.

There is a need to align with unions throughout the country & lock that base. Not just that the party has to be open itself to more young people. Go in a small county meeting n stuff in a red state, it is a sad story, a couple of old persons trying to keep the party alive with limited infra. Ellison talked about a County level strategy. He talked about Marijuana, Minimum Wage winning across the country in ballot initiatives & what Dems learn from that.

I think Dems have to be a grass-roots, country wide, activist Chair with focus on bringing more young people & expanding the party with a county level strategy. And the key target as Ellison mentions should be state elections as those are key!

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Perez vs. Ellison is a very hard choice for me. I like them both.

I guess it will come down to who I think has the best strategy for the party. I don't care about political leanings, that's not the DNC's role, and if Ellison tries to make it about that I would probably support Perez.

I have to disagree on your vision of the DNC's "role". I think Ellison is the only one in the race for the chairmanship that actually has a vision for a policy agenda, and I think it's better that the Democrats envision the DNC chair as less of a fundraising, behind-the-scenes role than a "face-of-the-party" role. Nothing against Perez, I think he's a great Secretary who's got a decent career ahead of him, but I frankly don't see a new vision for the party that the Democrats desperately need, and I'd much rather he run for Maryland Governor in 2018 or 2022 than he waste his time as DNC Chair.

But... that's literally what the DNC Chair's job is. Congressional Democrats are supposed to focus on policy.

NO It is not. That is what Debbie was - A terrific fundraiser. And Clinton outraised & outspend Trump too.

And what did it do - Jack sh**. This kind of experiment has been tried & has failed big. It is time to move on from this archaic thinking!

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Perez vs. Ellison is a very hard choice for me. I like them both.

I guess it will come down to who I think has the best strategy for the party. I don't care about political leanings, that's not the DNC's role, and if Ellison tries to make it about that I would probably support Perez.

I have to disagree on your vision of the DNC's "role". I think Ellison is the only one in the race for the chairmanship that actually has a vision for a policy agenda, and I think it's better that the Democrats envision the DNC chair as less of a fundraising, behind-the-scenes role than a "face-of-the-party" role. Nothing against Perez, I think he's a great Secretary who's got a decent career ahead of him, but I frankly don't see a new vision for the party that the Democrats desperately need, and I'd much rather he run for Maryland Governor in 2018 or 2022 than he waste his time as DNC Chair.

But... that's literally what the DNC Chair's job is. Congressional Democrats are supposed to focus on policy.

NO It is not. That is what Debbie was - A terrific fundraiser. And Clinton outraised & outspend Trump too.

And what did it do - Jack sh**. This kind of experiment has been tried & has failed big. It is time to move on from this archaic thinking!

It's not archaic thinking, it's the literal job description. The job of the DNC Chair is to focus on fundraising and building the party apparatus. It's mechanics, not "vision".

Do you have any proof or link of that being the job description? Because what you are saying is Flat out wrong.The truth is that isn't & has never been the role of the DNC Chair. Anyways if you go to the Website, you will read that the job of DNC is to fight for progress & help elect Democrats at state, local & national levels (which include a range of operations from fundraising to advocacy groups to long term strategy which is absolutely key in a non Democrat presidency)

Historically a party chair has had various roles some of which include a long term strategy for growth (Dean's 50 state strategy), fundraising & management, co-ordination with local, state & national organization including Labor groups where need be, co-ordination with think-tanks, co-ordinating with political advocacy groups, co-ordination with media including digital media to boost presence.

As this election has clearly proven inorder to win elections up & down the ticket & to fight for progress, fundraising is not the only solution (Hillary wasted 1.2B $)

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Perez vs. Ellison is a very hard choice for me. I like them both.

I guess it will come down to who I think has the best strategy for the party. I don't care about political leanings, that's not the DNC's role, and if Ellison tries to make it about that I would probably support Perez.

I have to disagree on your vision of the DNC's "role". I think Ellison is the only one in the race for the chairmanship that actually has a vision for a policy agenda, and I think it's better that the Democrats envision the DNC chair as less of a fundraising, behind-the-scenes role than a "face-of-the-party" role. Nothing against Perez, I think he's a great Secretary who's got a decent career ahead of him, but I frankly don't see a new vision for the party that the Democrats desperately need, and I'd much rather he run for Maryland Governor in 2018 or 2022 than he waste his time as DNC Chair.

But... that's literally what the DNC Chair's job is. Congressional Democrats are supposed to focus on policy.

NO It is not. That is what Debbie was - A terrific fundraiser. And Clinton outraised & outspend Trump too.

And what did it do - Jack sh**. This kind of experiment has been tried & has failed big. It is time to move on from this archaic thinking!

It's not archaic thinking, it's the literal job description. The job of the DNC Chair is to focus on fundraising and building the party apparatus. It's mechanics, not "vision".

If that's the case, then the role needs to be changed. Fundraising and reaching out to the donor class shouldn't be the goal of the Democratic Party. That's why people don't trust the DNC, because they come off as corporate weirdos who do whatever their donors want. That's basically what DWS was anyways. They should be focused on outreach to coalitions and guiding the direction of the party, not just behind-the-scenes work.

That isn't. Not what Dean did when he was Chair - That is not the job in non-Democrat presidency years. And certainly very different from what the website says about the role of DNC about fighting for progress & creating an economy for everyone & helping elect Democrats up & down the ticket including state & local levels.

People have to go beyond this obsessions that fundraising is the ultimate objective

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Outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has denounced the Democratic National Committee as “worthless” and dismissed its former chairwoman, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, as “that congresswoman from Florida.”

In an interview with Nevada Public Radio Wednesday, Reid said the DNC had left states to fend for themselves.

“I believe one of the failures of Democratic Party has been the Democratic National Committee, the DNC, has been worthless,” Reid said.

“They do nothing to help state parties,” he said. “That should be the main goal they have. I developed everything in Nevada on my own. Their help was relatively meaningless.”

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With Obama's recent non-veto of an anti-Israel resolution, and the ADL, Alan Dershowitz and Haim Saban's statements, things are getting serious. Jews need reassurance that the Democrats are not going to abandon them.

Huh?

Am I reading too much into this, or are you subtly suggesting that Ellison shouldn't be DNC chair because he's Muslim?

I know that's probably not what you're saying, but I just got that impression from your reply.

If Ellison doesn't win, there will be repercussions. Huge amount of progressives & young people will leave the Dem party for the Green party & try to build that up. Bernie now has half the base. He could help push a significant portion away from the Dem party if he wants affecting ending the Dem party electorally!

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With Obama's recent non-veto of an anti-Israel resolution, and the ADL, Alan Dershowitz and Haim Saban's statements, things are getting serious. Jews need reassurance that the Democrats are not going to abandon them.

Huh?

Am I reading too much into this, or are you subtly suggesting that Ellison shouldn't be DNC chair because he's Muslim?

I know that's probably not what you're saying, but I just got that impression from your reply.

If Ellison doesn't win, there will be repercussions. Huge amount of progressives & young people will leave the Dem party for the Green party & try to build that up. Bernie now has half the base. He could help push a significant portion away from the Dem party if he wants affecting ending the Dem party electorally!

Tom Perez is almost as progressive as Ellison. This is delusional

Obama has done enough "damage" to the Dem party - It is time for a change. The "same old" is not gonna cut it anymore.

There are millions of progressives. And the last thing people want is a TPP loving progressive. Perez not only supported it (didn't oppose it 1 bit) but campaigned for it. And he is till justifying & campaigning for TPP. If that is his view on trade, then the Dems are never gonna win the Electoral college!

People have decided on Ellison, this Perez BS is not gonna be acceptable anymore.

If the Dems are incapable of reform, the party will die like the whigs & young people will flock to 3rd parties like the Green. If the Greens get a better leader than Stein (someone like Bernie), the Dems are in absolute trouble!

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Disgusting. First Schumer (architect of the failed idea to trade working class whites for suburban Republicans) get's leadership

Long-term, those suburban + white college grad voters are a better catch, and likely necessary for future Democratic downballot strength. White college educated voters are more reliable voters. The better idea would be to try and make inroads with these groups but also get ourselves back to where we were with WWCs in at least 2012-ish.

But, I guess to be fair, Clinton really wasn't the right candidate to do this imo. Something like what happened was bound to happen with her and all the problems she brings to the table.

Get this third way scum out of here.

Is he Third Way? How so?

Bernie needs to lay off Trump until after the inauguration and focus on cleaning house.

If we all want Bernie to get deeply involved in cleaning up the Democratic Party, and if he himself wants to, then he should actually become a Democrat instead of making it a point to stay as an Independent, because afaik he still is. At least to me, it's an important symbolic issue that such a man who wants to shape internal party politics actually be a member of this party.

While the former maybe true (white college educated), it won't solve the problem of the Electoral college. There is significant chance there is even more polarization of White Working Class away from the Dems if this is the route they take. That may mean the Presidency if out of bounds for a generation. Also what about rural counties? You can't win the Senate or the House without doing well in the Rural counties & this doubling down on sub-urban people seems to be a losing strategy to him. Republicans will take a large share of wealthy people just because of their low tax, low regulation & policies to appeal to wealthy people - Democrats can't outflank them there on the long term.

I agree with you on the Bernie thing. He can't be an independent & try to reform the Dem Party. He has to be a Dem. He said that he will see out his term as an independent as that is how he was elected - Which is IMO okay. A Keith Ellison appointment will surely be a very positive message to Bernie & his supporters.

In 2018 he is standing for Senate & if he really wants to be a long-term Dem leader, then he needs to stand in the 2018 election as a Democrat. And 2018 election is not a long time away - He can agitate for 1 year or more but then has to make a decision if he wants to be a leader within the Dems!

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@TomPerez
It's not enough to be progressive—We need a progressive who gets things done.

Same BS propaganda with personal slander that HRC did - Another establishment hack - Same old, same old !

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agree with you on the Bernie thing. He can't be an independent & try to reform the Dem Party. He has to be a Dem. He said that he will see out his term as an independent as that is how he was elected - Which is IMO okay. A Keith Ellison appointment will surely be a very positive message to Bernie & his supporters.

That's a fair point. That's good enough for me if that is his reasoning.

Regarding WWCs, Democrats shouldn't really cede any group but given that the white electorate (or electorate overall really for that matter) is becoming better and better educated, increasing support among white college grads will pay off long-term, especially as educated white Millennials age. If we do end up losing some rustbelt states, we should be able to make it up with equivalent sunbelt states within the next decade. I'm not really convinced it has to be either/or, though.

The white vote in sunbelt is extremely polarized as of now. I don't see any major gains coming through in the next decade or so (maybe GA or AZ with a flawed candidate like Trump). There is also the possibility of losing MN, NH, ME which will be very hard to make up even with wins in GA, AZ. Turnout is also gonna be key, if Trump gets his base to come in record numbers, a win won't be easy.

Many very rich educated people will naturally go the GOP due to the tax/entitlement ideology. There will ofcourse be some third party defection (Look at the Independent numbers among young people) & everyone won't become partisan as they age.

You can also add to the fact that college is incredibly expensive & a tepid economy is only going to disincentive higher education.

A lot of people came to vote to keep Trump out. If he proves to be somewhat sane, the electorate won't be as polarized & with the GOP behind him, he will do better among suburban folks. Maybe on the long term this is a viable strategy, but on the short term Electoral College wise it is difficult without the Rust Belt.

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In a new video interview with The Huffington Post, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) pledged to ban contributions from lobbyists to the Democratic Party if he’s elected as its next chairman.

“Yeah, I would,” Ellison told HuffPost when asked about banning lobbyist donations. “I think it’s important that people feel that the party is their party … There is a pragmatic, perhaps too pragmatic step that you can say, ‘We’ll just take whatever money from whatever source in whatever amount.’ But once you do that, I think you cross a line where people do not feel that the party is really theirs.”

President Barack Obama banned lobbyist contributions to the Democratic National Committee after winning the 2008 election, but the then DNC Chair, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) quietly lifted the ban during Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential run. In a December interview with HuffPost, Ellison’s chief rival for Wasserman Schultz’s successor, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, refused to rule out lobbyist donations.

“I think we have to have everything on the table,” Perez said. “We have to have a conversation where we bring in all the stakeholders and say, ‘What is the vision of the Democratic Party?’”

Lobbyists contribute only a small fraction of the money raised by the Democratic Party. And while they do grease the gears in Washington, D.C., they’re paid to do the bidding of other big donors ― CEOs, private equity bigwigs and other well-heeled operators who few politicians are willing to blacklist from the donor rolls.

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Dona Brazile has stuffed the DNC with all Clinton loyalists who were unemployed after the campaign ended. I heard she is also trying to involve David Brock. Can any1 post that news?

All of it is to create some War Room & Oppo. Research etc team on Trump & attack him. Like he wasn't attacked & people didn't know about his stuff.

If the DNC gave half as importance to building the party at the grass-roots, this mess would never have happened. And they are filing it with Clinton hacks!

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Perez hates Bernie supporters or what? He seems determined to stick into Bernie supporters. He tweeted that no chairs were thrown tonight & then deleted the tweet in 1 hour (Reference to the Nevada Lie about chairs thrown).

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Does the Bernievolution within the CA Democratic Party have any influence on the dynamics of this race, or are those completely separate things?

Separate things, it's kind of a downballot change. And secondly it is over-rated IMO, these are small stuff but many MANY more such small stuff needs to be done & then after a while you may see a reinvigorated Dem party!

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Perez needs to go & Keith needs to embrace the Sanders wing!

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Some sources are saying Perez has a huge lead in the votes & will easily win!

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Democrats Being Trained on "How to Talk to Real People" by David Brock


Geez - Seriously!

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Democrats Being Trained on "How to Talk to Real People" by David Brock


Geez - Seriously!

There's no hope...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUYkAu8BL3k

Neera Tanden is also helping out. David Brock, I read in another article, blamed Clinton for not using his great oppo research dossier exposing Trump as a successful businessman & is convinced Trump would have been beaten then.

Tanden & Brock held a session in WV about "Hold Trump accountable"

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TYT Politics is the best thing happening if you ignore the monologue videos. Amazing reporting - Jordan based on Standing Rock & then covering the Texas Pipeline & effect on conservatives, Flint & even Indiana Lead poisoning.

And ofcourse Nomiki Konst covered both DNC Chair & Vice-Chair races with interview of Elizabeth Jaff (running for DNC Vice-Chair) & of DNC Chair candidates (Jeemu - Texas black woman & Ray Buckley NH Chair).

Liked Buckley & his criticism of huge ad spend & proposal to introduce conflict clause. He is DNC Vice Chair & says he has no idea how DNC spends its funds. I don't think he has done a particular amazing job as NH Chair but I thought he was pretty decent. 3rd favorite after Ellison & Buttigieg!

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Civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) on Friday announced he’s backing Rep. Keith Ellison’s (D-Minn.) bid to be the next Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairman.

“Keith's long history as an organizer who can energize the grassroots makes him the best choice to lead our party during this critical time,” Lewis said in a statement.

Former Vice President Walter Mondale is endorsing Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison to become the next Democratic National Committee chair.

"Keith was a Minnesota star in the state legislature and now in the US House. Keith believes that we need to help all Americans succeed, and this message of inclusiveness is one that has resonated with people in the 5th Congressional District in Minnesota, who have re-elected Keith five times and who have turned out to vote in increasing numbers ever since Keith took office," Mondale said in a statement. "Keith is exactly the type of person our party needs right now, and I know he'd use his talents to elect Democrats across our country if he's the next DNC Chair."

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“It is very concerning that Bernie Sanders is so intent on taking over a party that he’s not even a member of that he’d insult the beloved vice president — and really the president — about a failed status quo approach,” said Texas Democratic chairman Gilberto Hinojosa, a Perez supporter and one of 447 DNC members who will vote in late February to elect the next chairman.

“This is coming from a man who is not even a member of our party,” Hinojosa continued. “We lost an election and all of a sudden we’re all a part of a failed status quo? When he puts Joe Biden and Tom Perez in this category and paints with a broad brush he insults all of us. This is an election between loyal, qualified Democrats who love our party and the country. There’s no need for him to lower himself to that level.”

And Jeri Shepherd, a voting DNC member from Colorado who backs Ellison, noted that Sanders said in his statement that he considers Biden a friend has “a lot of respect” for Tom Perez.She argued that those who took offense to Sanders’s remark are themselves looking for any reason to reignite the Sanders-Clinton debate.

“Bernie is not one to make personal attacks. That’s not his style,” Shepherd said. “The irony is that many of us aren’t interested in rehashing the primary, but there are some who are and who still see Bernie supporters as interlopers into the party. They’ll feel how they want to feel, but I don’t think it’s productive to read too much into what he said.”

Jamal Simmons, a Democratic strategist whose firm handled communications for one of the DNC chairman forums, noted that Sanders can join the Democratic Party but has repeatedly declined.

“He doesn’t get to set the standard for a party he’s not a member of,” Simmons said. “It’s up to those 447 longtime members of the party. If he’d like to have a vote, he should join the Democratic Party. We’d love to have him. The truth is we can’t win without the Bernie wing, but we also can’t have someone who is just a voice for Bernie Sanders. The lines are not that clear. There is overlap.”

“Bernie was right,” said Jonathan Tasini, a prominent progressive organizer who is backing Ellison. “The party is in a shambles. For the people who were at the helm to pretend like that isn’t the case is just whistling past the graveyard. This is a fight for the soul of the party and two very different views about what the party should do and stand for. It’s not a bad thing to have that debate.”

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"Joe Biden is a friend of mine and I have a lot of respect for Tom Perez. In terms of the next chair of the DNC, however, the question is simple: Do we stay with a failed status-quo approach or do we go forward with a fundamental restructuring of the Democratic Party? I say we go forward and create a grassroots party which speaks for working people and is prepared to stand up to the top 1 percent. That's why we have to support Keith Ellison," Sanders said in a statement.