Keith Ellisons 3,143-County Strategy

[portlander23]

Keith Ellison’s 3,143-County Strategy
Joel Bleifuss
In These Times

In the aftermath of the Trump victory, a heated blame game is being played on the fields of the Democratic Party. We endorse this spirit of recrimination. Let’s be frank about what happened: An astronomically well-funded Democratic candidate with a campaign staffed by the Very Best People and who was endorsed by virtually the entire Washington establishment was defeated by a racist reality TV star who gave out some free baseball caps and bragged about sexually assaulting women.

When they meet in late February, the 400-plus members of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) will elect a new chair. The Bernie Sanders wing of the party, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Sanders himself and—surprisingly—future Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) are backing the candidacy of Rep. Keith Ellison (Minn.), the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and an early supporter of Sanders’ presidential bid.

Ellison has called for the Democratic Party to devote itself to becoming the party of the working class. His steadfast commitment to racial justice proves that progressive leadership need not trap itself in the false dichotomy of standing up for working people or fighting race and gender oppression. How could the Left ever do one without doing the other?

[Gothmog]

1. I have met and like Keith Ellison but I do not support him for DNC chair.

I do not want a Sanders supporter to be DNC chair. Tom Perez is a far superior choice for DNC chair

[mcar]

2. I agree

We need him in congress.

[lsewpershad]

3. No,

We need more like him in Congress and as chair of the DNC he can make that happen. Perez can run for a seat in congress.

[Gothmog]

4. I am not alone in not wanting a Sanders supporter to be DNC chair

The contest for DNC chair will affect the direction of the party for the next two to four years. I have met and like Keith Ellison but I do not want him to be DNC chair and I am encouraged that Tom Perez is getting into this race. Ellison would be the wrong choice for DNC chair in my opinion and this opinion is shared by others http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/keith-ellison-democratic-dnc-232613

One reason is that the shadow of the contentious presidential primary continues to hang over the party, and some DNC members view the Minnesota congressman as part of the faction that delivered a mortal wound to Clinton, despite his best efforts to convince them otherwise.

“Ellison is not the front-runner, Ellison has no chance at all,” said Tennessee committeeman William Owen, giving voice to that view. “I’m a Hillary person. Bill Clinton said, 'I’ll be with you till the last dog dies,' and I’m the last dog. I will not vote for Keith Ellison, I will not vote for a Bernie person. I think they cost Hillary the election, and now they’re going to live with Donald Trump. Donald Trump asks, 'What do you have to lose?’ Nothing, except life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

California committeewoman Susie Shannon’s take on Ellison, however, is more representative of the ascendant progressive wing’s view.

Ellison would divide the party. I do not want Ellison to be party chair

[Gothmog]

5. New questions complicate Ellison's bid for DNC chair

These allegations may hurt Ellison http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/311270-old-finance-woes-haunt-ellisons-dnc-bid

Opponents of Rep. Keith Ellison’s bid to be the next Democratic National Committee chairman are raising new questions about the Minnesota Democrat’s past to make the case that he’s unfit to be the party’s next leader.

Ellison's critics in the DNC and some supporters of Labor secretary Tom Perez, the other top candidate, are pointing to the Minnesota Democrat’s past tax troubles, campaign finance violations and minor legal issues that once led to his driver’s license being suspended as evidence that he’s ill-equipped to lead the DNC.

Some of those instances date back to the 1990s. All of the issues have been rectified and were previously used in attacks against Ellison during his first run for House in 2006.

Why elect a DNC chair who has baggage?

[quaker bill]

6. Pretty easy really

"An astronomically well-funded Democratic candidate with a campaign staffed by the Very Best People and who was endorsed by virtually the entire Washington establishment was defeated by a racist reality TV star who gave out some free baseball caps and bragged about sexually assaulting women."

It is time to do most everything differently. It is about 7 months too late to be worried about "baggage" now. A little division seems the least that is in order.

[PatsFan87]

7. I'm with Keith.

On his DNC campaign website, Ellison has presented a 29-point plan for a 3,143-county strategy to “energize Democratic activists across the country and give them the tools to build the Party from the bottom up.”

Yes please. Let's build up our state parties and actually listen to people on the ground.