Weingarten: Ellison brings together biggest partisans for Bernie and biggest partisans for Hillary
The Democratic Fault Line Between Obama And Sanders Is Different Than You Think
Zach Carter and Sam Stein
Huffington Post
“It’s time to heal the party,” says American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, an influential Clinton surrogate. “What Keith brings to this process ― in one person ― is both a fight for working-class economic issues and the fight for justice … he also brings together some of the biggest partisans for Bernie and the biggest partisans for Hillary.”
Already, Ellison has racked up endorsements from establishment Clinton loyalists including Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and his successor, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and immigrant advocate Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) ― without losing the enthusiasm among the Bernie camp. The nation’s largest federation of labor unions, the AFL-CIO, typically either backs establishment Democrats or stays quiet in contested races. The group endorsed Ellison last week.
“It’s not about Perez. He’s really great,” said one Senate Democratic staffer, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the race. “Obama just let the DNC fall apart under Debbie, and the hack exposed some pretty stupid emails. She didn’t cost Bernie the nomination, but a lot of Bernie voters out there are still mad about it. They need to make the next chair a Bernie person. Obama didn’t earn this one.”
“Tom is a great guy,” Weingarten says. “He has a great economic vision and has been a great Labor secretary. But we need both vision and organization, and Keith brings both.”
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