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

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Something interesting I found out about Buttigieg:

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It seems like a majority of people (or at least a plurality) who have watched the 1st two forums... have been most impressed with Buttigieg (including myself). I wish individuals would vote- rather than let endorsements drive the vote!  At any rate- Here is my pitch regarding Buttigieg (that I posted in another thread)  --------->

I originally was for Dean (since he was a success in the position before).  Then I thought I would be for Tom Perez...
But I've become convinced that Buttigieg is absolutely the best choice  ... He is always on point & sharp as a tack (and he has the demeanor that allows him to give policy stances without coming across as overly partisan).........He didn't wade into the Hillary/Bernie debate......He's been Hugely successful turning around a failing MidWest City........And Most importantly - I think he has the sheer intellect & capability to successfully put together the infrastructure and game plan in place to allow Dems to win back elections across the country.

Buttigieg just seems to over-achieve & succeed in everything he's ever done
1)  In High School- he won the JFK Profiles in Courage Essay (writing an essay about Bernie Sanders Courage as an Ind Senator), was Valedictorian & President of his High School Student Body.

2)  Then Graduated with Honors from Harvard & was President of the Harvard Institute of Politics Student Advisory Committee.

3)  Then went to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar earning a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

4)  In addition to serving a stint in Afghanistan, he Was elected Mayor of his home town of South Bend at age 29 (the youngest 100k+ population mayor at the time) ... and has more than succeeded in completely Turning around a failing City (one of the best turnaround city stories in the country)...and with the highest ethics & transparency (all of the cities finances are completely available to the public online)...  

5)  I think he will be just as successful in the role of DNC Chair & instituting a system and strategic plan to ensure Dems start winning elections again. (he can use that Rhodes Scholar Brilliance to stay a step ahead of the Republican Party).

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I'm a Dean->Unsure->Buttigieg DNC supporter.

Same here.

Also- Buttigieg would not offend Bernie or Hillary wings. (And would do the best job)

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When is the vote for DNC chair being held, anyway?

I think I read "later this month" (but not sure of the specific date)

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O'Malley backs Buttigieg

Good to hear... But I hope DNC members will vote for who they think will do the best job (rather than listening to endorsements)... Because I think most would come to the conclusion (after seeing the DNC Chair Forums) that the answer is Pete Buttigieg.

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I really hope Buttigieg pulls an upset.  I think he would do a far batter job than Ellison or Perez.. (I thought I would like Perez- but he is not a great communicator- Buttigieg is much better).  and there are reasons for both Bernie ppl and Hillary ppl to like Buttigieg.

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Moderates like Buttigieg, Progressives like Buttigieg. There is literally no downside to him winning. I just can't imagine the DNC members picking him over Ellison or Perez though and that is a damn shame.

Very much agree... But I'm hoping secret ballot will help Buttigieg (and hoping enough DNC members are smart enough to think he is the best choice of the 3... even if they aren't saying it.

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This stupid fight has caused me to shift my support to Pete Buttigieg.

Aside from the fact that I think Buttigieg would actually do the best job (he is extremely bright- a rhodes scholar... he has been extremely successful turning around the economy of a failing  midwestern city, etc) ....

this is one of the best reasons to go with Buttigieg (he would have the full support of both Perez and Ellison supporters... since he has displayed a lot of respect for Sanders, Obama, and Clinton in the past).

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It's only smart if Buckley has any actual support.

Tangential: Tim Ryan just endorsed Jaime Harrison for DNC Chair on his Facebook. Which seems odd.

smh, talk about throwing your potential newfound influence in the trash.

Why would Tim Ryan not support fellow midwesterner Pete Buttigieg (who I think has a much better chance of becoming a consensus pick.. than does Harrison). Also Buttigieg has a record of being a transformative and effective Mayor .. vs.. Harrison's record as South Carolina DNC chair (SC Dem party has shown no advances)...

even some of the congressional districts that Dems could potentially win... continue to recycle previously failed Dem candidates  (who serve more as a "fill in" candidate with no chance of ever winning) ... You could even argue that 1 reason SC Rep party has become more moderate (in some ways).. is b/c there is virtually no Dem party at all in SC anymore.

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As a Republican, I pray that they select Keith Ellison, who has absolutely no chance to bring back the working class white voters that the Democrats need.

False. Left-wing populism is exactly what the Democratic Party needs in order to regain lost ground with WWCs.

"Disagree" is much more accurate than "False" ... I happen to agree that Ellison is not what the Dem party needs- and that Buttigieg is a much smarter choice.  He's outside of Washington, He can united all sides of the Party... and he can connect with rural and midwestern trump voters who would love to have their town experience the turnaround Buttigieg has achieved as Mayor of his hometown.

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The main thing is Consultant contracts where they do nothing & rip off the DNC. Buckley & many others have been harsh on Consultant contracts. Nebraska Party Chair (& Ex Bernie surrogate) said Consultants take huge contracts & then call State Chairs & get the stuff done by State Chairs while the State doesn't have any money, nothing comes from the DNC.

Perez is the only one who is completely soft on the Consultant & is working hard to get lobbyist votes.

It will be a disaster if Perez wins.

Ellison is a phenomenal grass-roots organizer who will do well. Pete B is a young boy who is just a Mayor (& to be honest he is a decent speaker but has given no indication that he can do the job)

Buttigieg... no indication that he can do the job??? 

Every thing he has ever done has been a success...

1)  In High School- he won the JFK Profiles in Courage Essay (writing an essay about Bernie Sanders Courage as an Ind Senator), was Valedictorian & President of his High School Student Body.

2)  Then Graduated with Honors from Harvard & was President of the Harvard Institute of Politics Student Advisory Committee.

3)  Then went to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar earning a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

4)  In addition to serving a stint in Afghanistan, he Was elected Mayor of his home town of South Bend at age 29 (the youngest 100k+ population mayor at the time) ... and has more than succeeded in completely Turning around a failing City (one of the best turnaround city stories in the country)...and with the highest ethics & transparency (all of the cities finances are completely available to the public online)...   

5)  I think he will be just as successful in the role of DNC Chair & instituting a system and strategic plan to ensure Dems start winning elections again. (he can use that Rhodes Scholar Brilliance to stay a step ahead of the Republican Party).

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The first 3 are just academic achievements, not political ones, and the 5th one is a talking point and not a real argument

Hence the only one I highlighted was #4:
4)  In addition to serving a stint in Afghanistan, he Was elected Mayor of his home town of South Bend at age 29 (the youngest 100k+ population mayor at the time) ... and has more than succeeded in completely Turning around a failing midwestern City (one of the best turnaround city stories in the country)...and with the highest ethics & transparency (all of the cities finances are completely available to the public online)...  

.... He is one of the very few mayors in the US who has succeeded at such a task in the past 5 years.

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The first 3 are just academic achievements, not political ones, and the 5th one is a talking point and not a real argument

Hence the only one I highlighted was #4:
4)  In addition to serving a stint in Afghanistan, he Was elected Mayor of his home town of South Bend at age 29 (the youngest 100k+ population mayor at the time) ... and has more than succeeded in completely Turning around a failing midwestern City (one of the best turnaround city stories in the country)...and with the highest ethics & transparency (all of the cities finances are completely available to the public online)...  

.... He is one of the very few mayors in the US who has succeeded at such a task in the past 5 years.

His accomplishments as mayor don't matter at all for DNC chair.

Buttigieg Completely Turning around a failing mid sized midwestern city (the turn around is almost solely attributable to his plan)... is more relevant to the executive function of the DNC chair ... than is a congressman.

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I support Ellison, but screw the hacks, I think Perez would do a fine job too, as long as the Bernie bros don't throw a hissy fit and refuse to turn out to vote in the midterms just because they couldn't get their way.

But we need more than their vote. We need their enthusiasm, influence, social media presence, everything. Btw, these people are not "Bernie bros".

I think Buttigieg is best choice..... But its pretty sad if either "side" of the Dem Party... loses enthusiasm, influence, etc in mid terms... just because  their preferred candidate doesn't get DNC Chair.

After all... even moderate dem support probably 80% of the policies that Progressives support.  Trump maybe supports 10% of policies progressives support.  So worst case scenario- would you want 80% or 10%.

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There's a difference between "we need to be unified" and "we need to present an entirely centrist vision of our party". Right now it feels like the only power progressives have is the voting base and not any of the institutions.

If you look at a spectrum... Progressives are the furthest away from the majority of the country (as are the far right)... so it is a bit natural that neither of these 2 sides is ever going to get everything they want. But sometimes I feel like progressives want all or nothing (or think a politician should support all of their positions... or they are a total sell out).

Don't get me wrong- I agree with many if not most of the Progressive policy stances... But I consider myself more moderate sometimes... almost solely because I'm not willing to demonize a Dem politician who has a more moderate stance on a few issues.

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There's a difference between "we need to be unified" and "we need to present an entirely centrist vision of our party". Right now it feels like the only power progressives have is the voting base and not any of the institutions.

If you look at a spectrum... Progressives are the furthest away from the majority of the country (as are the far right)... so it is a bit natural that neither of these 2 sides is ever going to get everything they want. But sometimes I feel like progressives want all or nothing (or think a politician should support all of their positions... or they are a total sell out).

Don't get me wrong- I agree with many if not most of the Progressive policy stances... But I consider myself more moderate sometimes... almost solely because I'm not willing to demonize a Dem politician who has a more moderate stance on a few issues.

If you look at policy polling numbers, you'll find that this is patently untrue. When presented with policy options from a living wage to Medicare for all, vast majorities of the population support the progressive option.

I think that's definitely true among Dems (which is why I said Progressives and Moderates agree on 80% of policy).  I don't trust numbers that attribute many republican with similar views... Most Republicans I've every know... Don't like Hillary's views- But thought Bernie's policies were a total joke (of course this is likely more so the case in the South East)

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With the vote being secret ballot... I wonder how much effect indorsement will really have this year... when members are more likely to think long and hard about who is best to help lay the frame work to take back congress and the presidency, etc. (whether that Ellison or not)

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First off, as impressive as he is on TV, believe me when I say that Buttigieg is even more impressive in person. He was personable, funny, direct, comfortable in the small setting, and also very handsome.

Assuming most DNC Committee members have met him... Maybe this will lead members to vote for Buttigieg, regardless of endorsements (since the vote is secret ballot)

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So Perez apparently after the NH primary, emailed Podesta telling him that while Bernie has the youth vote, they should change the narrative by claiming that Bernie only appeals to young white voters, which would hurt him in South Carolina.  So he pretty much came up with the idea of the idiotic Bernie bro stereotype.  The email was in the wikileaks emails.
For more information see:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riarqgogc3U

He can go f*** himself.

And this is supposed to be the "unity candidate", lol.

Yeah- I've never understood Perez being the Unity candidate. (I guess some were thinking progressive + minority who supported Hillary & worked for Obama... but such a notion is a prime example of a formula that may appear good on paper... yet completely fails in reality).  Not to mention he has never impressed me as a speaker/ communicator ... I think he comes across as trying too hard (at least in the DNC race).

To me the reality consensus candidate is Buttigieg. But not due to a formula... but rather because he has shown genuine respect for both Bernie camp & Hillary camp.  Buttigieg has long had genuine respect for Bernie going back to his essay in high school on Bernie that won the Kennedy writing award.  But he also respects Hillary.. this dual respect is why he largely stayed out of wading into the Presidential Primary.

So for me- I've never understood why ppl don't view this as a choice between Ellison ... or Buttigieg (as the consensus candidate)

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So Perez apparently after the NH primary, emailed Podesta telling him that while Bernie has the youth vote, they should change the narrative by claiming that Bernie only appeals to young white voters, which would hurt him in South Carolina.  So he pretty much came up with the idea of the idiotic Bernie bro stereotype.  The email was in the wikileaks emails.
For more information see:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riarqgogc3U

He can go f*** himself.

And this is supposed to be the "unity candidate", lol.

Yeah- I've never understood Perez being the Unity candidate. (I guess some were thinking progressive + minority who supported Hillary & worked for Obama... but such a notion is a prime example of a formula that may appear good on paper... yet completely fails in reality).  Not to mention he has never impressed me as a speaker/ communicator ... I think he comes across as trying too hard (at least in the DNC race).

To me the reality consensus candidate is Buttigieg. But not due to a formula... but rather because he has shown genuine respect for both Bernie camp & Hillary camp.  Buttigieg has long had genuine respect for Bernie going back to his essay in high school on Bernie that won the Kennedy writing award.  But he also respects Hillary.. this dual respect is why he largely stayed out of wading into the Presidential Primary.

So for me- I've never understood why ppl don't view this as a choice between Ellison ... or Buttigieg (as the consensus candidate)

He endorsed Hillary, he didn't stay out. And he is a mayor, I think he doesn't have the experience to DNC Chair which IMO is critical.

Also I would argue Ellison who has been a lifelong Democrat, campaigned for Bernie & Obama too in the primaries & for Obama & Clinton in the GE, has support from both Schumer/Reid camp as well as Bernie/Warren camp can be a good unity candidate.

Perez for obvious reasons is a very bad choice. I don't mind Pete though. I do think he should run for Congress in 2018 !

That is why I said he "largely" stayed out of the primary... He may have eventually endorsed Hillary... but he didn't actively campaign for her etc.  I will leave it to others to decide if they think Buttigieg or Ellison is the candidate most aptly considered a consensus candidate.

Regarding Buttigieg being qualified...

 In addition to being a Rhodes Scholar, graduating from Harvard with honors, and serving a stint in Afghanistan....most relevant is he Was elected Mayor of his home town of South Bend at age 29 (the youngest 100k+ population mayor at the time) ... and has more than succeeded in completely Turning around a failing City (one of the best turnaround city stories in the country)...and with the highest ethics & transparency (all of the cities finances are completely available to the public online)...  Running the 4th largest city in Indiana (and with such dynamic success) is more executive experience than being a member of Congress.   I think he will be just as successful in the role of DNC Chair & instituting a system and strategic plan to ensure Dems start winning elections again. (he can use that Rhodes Scholar Brilliance to stay a step ahead of the Republican Party).

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Sounds like Howard Dean may endorse Buttigieg tomorrow:

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This would be great... Maybe Dean still has the respect of some of the members... and the endorsement will have credibility since Dean knows what it takes to run the DNC successfully!  If enough people vote for Buttigieg in the 1st round- he has an outside chance of emerging as the consensus candidate if voting goes several rounds!

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Am I the only one who likes Perez, Ellison, and Buttigieg, and thinks any of the three would do a fine job?

I like all three... But I think Buttigieg would honestly do the best job. He really has his sh%t together and is an incredible political talent... People who have seen him in DNC Chair forums have almost uniformly been very impressed... as have practically everyone in South Bend.  He'll Brilliant & seems to always exceed ppl's expectations (both are rare).  I also think his tone is usually pitch perfect... he knows how to get his point out without turning off people who disagree with him.

Perez seems too forced and trying too hard... I have always been underwhelmed by his political skills (I remember thinking the same thing about him when I looked up video... when he was a potential Hillary VP pick).

I think Ellison is a good congressman... But I'm not convinced he would be good in an executive function.  Also- his game plan tends to rely too heavily on his specific experience in his district (vs a truly macro & micro plan to turn around elections for Dems across the country).  He also seems a bit too focused on policy fights within the party (vs the nuts and bolts and infrastructure needed to win elections)

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Hearing rumors about a whip count around 200 for Ellison.

Due to secret ballot. the likelihood on multiple voting rounds and maybe partially due to some effect the CNN debate tomorrow could have.. I don't think whip counts mean all that much.

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Very rough updated predictions:

Ballot 1: 205 Ellison, 185 Perez, 26 Buttigieg 21 Harrison, 10 Brown/Greene/Peckarsky/Ronan
-Brown, Greene, Peckarsky, Ronan drop out
Ballot 2: 209 Ellison, 186 Perez, 29 Buttigieg, 23 Harrison
-Harrison drops out
Ballot 3: 216 Ellison, 190 Perez, 41 Buttigieg
-Buttigieg eliminated
Ballot 4: 245 Ellison, 202 Perez

OR!!!...

Ballot 1: 170 Ellison, 148 Perez, 100 Buttigieg 16 Harrison, 10 Brown/Greene/Peckarsky/Ronan
-Brown, Greene, Peckarsky, Ronan, Harrison drop out
Ballot 2: 180 Ellison, 150 Perez, 114 Buttigieg

Ballot 3: 180 Ellison, 125 Perez, 131 Buttigieg
-Perez eliminated
Ballot 4: 211 Ellison, 225 Buttigieg


(I know this is wishful thinking... Buttigieg's only hope... Doe far better than Perez in the debate tomorrow.... then get a lot more than expected votes via secret ballot- while Perez gets far less than expected... setting up a feeling that Perez will never get enough of Buttigieg votes to surpass Ellison... So enough Perez voters go to buttiegieg in the 3rd round to stop Ellison...

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Has a 3rd place 1st round candidate- ever ended winning?

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Has a 3rd place 1st round candidate- ever ended winning?

In the 2009 RNC race, the 1st round was Duncan>Steele>Dawson. Although Dawson didn't win, he did take a slim plurality lead in the 5th round and became the finalist against Steele in the 6th and final round.

Also, Pope Francis reportedly was in 3rd place after the 1st round of voting.

The fact that DNC pretty much ends after the 3rd round (due to mandatory dropout of the person with least votes).... hurts the chances of the consensus candidate scenario.