I favored Ellison, but if the 'establishment' is a progressive Latino who worked

[geek tragedy]

as a garbage collector to put himself through an Ivy League college, maybe the establishment has been transformed from within.

[JHan]

1. good one :)

K & R

[hrmjustin]

2. Two for the price of one.

That is how I see it.

[geek tragedy]

3. and we keep Keith in the House, so he can remain outspoken nt

[hrmjustin]

7. Yes. I would like to see him sun for governor or Senate one day.

[Glamrock]

5. Me too.

Plus we get to keep Keith in the legislature, fighting the good fight.

[DinahMoeHum]

24. Bingo, which is why I favored Perez as DNC chair.

Good as he is, Ellison is much too valuable to be replaced at where he is; and the DNC chair is now a FULL-TIME job which needs full-time and overtime effort. Perez fits the bill here, as he is not a current legislator and therefore doesn't have that additional responsibility.

Besides, from what I've read, there isn't much philosophical difference between him and Ellison, anyway. So this arrangement fits well.

[Glamrock]

42. Couldn't have put it better myself Dinah!

[vi5]

4. Same here....

..and if his first act was to make Ellison deputy chair, then as far as I can tell he "gets it".

I see no cause to be disappointed in this result. I also hope the other folks who ran will also be listened to since they all wanted a say and all had an interest in the direction of the Democratic party.

Good luck, Mr. Perez. We're all counting on you and we're here to help if you need us (spoiler alert....you do need us).

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. Me too. I like Perez and I get to keep my Congressman.

It's all good.

[Hortensis]

13. Oh, lucky you. And so agree with geek.

But then the Democratic Party establishment has come from everywhere for a very long time now.

[Wounded Bear]

8. There is actually value to the "establishment" if used properly...

Yes we need the fresh blood and the grassroots energy, but the institutions already in place are useful conduits to funnel that energy and power into the proper areas.

We can't just throw out everybody who has fought their entire lives to gain the position and power to fight for us, just for a fresh coat of paint.

Sorry, but the "burn it down and start from scratch" philosophy sounds a bit too Trumpian to me. Get the fresh young folks in and we can amend the "establishment" from within.

[DownriverDem]

25. Something to be said for experience.

Like you said we need both the new and those who have been there. A strong Democratic Party welcomes all.

[Rex]

10. Yeah I hear ya, I heard some whining about him and I think it is Ellison fanboys making the noise.

Either one seems a win to me, but there will always be people griping, if Ellison would have won there would be Doom and Gloom too.

[dawg]

11. The only "establishment" now is the Republicans.

We're all on the outside, looking in.

[Johnyawl]

20. Exactly right dawg!

[DownriverDem]

26. So very true

Our total focus has to be to beat the repubs.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

12. it is kinda crazy how divided allies became. Donald is the enemy.

And Pence is the Rook to take out along the way. Pence is actually the face of CPAC. And he will be POTUSing while Donald quacks up a storm rallying his base.

[Cha]

14. I was for Tom Perez and you make a good point. That was just

a damn buzzword.

[geek tragedy]

16. how do any of those pejorative terms apply to Perez? nt

[pnwmom]

21. Where's your evidence? You're just trying to smear him right from the beginning. n/t

[DownriverDem]

27. Hello?

You make it sound like there are two sides. Not from where I sit. My focus is on beating the repubs who are destroying us as I type. Focus please!

[samnsara]

29. wy did i get sanctioned for...

mentioning a certain ex prez candidate with the initials BS when whats being said in this particular thread is similar? harrumph...newbies....

[Blue_true]

36. There is a faction here that punishes anyone that angers them through the jury system. nt

[Blue_true]

33. I love the Clintons and supported Hillary in the primary

and General. I donated to her campaign in both. But I welcome more voices in the Democratic Party as long as everyone support the party candidate once that candidate is chosen. Local Democratic committees is where people join and change the party, with active participation in local DEmocratic Committees, people get on the State and National Committees. The issue that I have with people that hate that Perez won is they want to jump right to the front and give everyone else orders, things don't work that way. Why should a Democratic Committee person that has spend fifteen years working up from local committee to national step aside for some former Independent who got excited during the primary and now demands that his or her voice be heard over all others?

[Vinca]

17. It honestly doesn't matter if it's Perez or Ellison. What does matter is uniting to overthrow the

current regime. The fate of the country depends on it. We'll get nowhere if we continue bickering. Ellison is going to have a significant role and I think this will work out fine.

[Fast Walker 52]

23. seriously, yes. Enough bullshit bickering.

[Linc13]

19. Everyone...

of the candidates that were running should be a part of the DNC not just those two. But I'll keep my fingers crossed on this that they don't screw this up.

[Blue_true]

38. I agree, an impressive list of candidates.

I think the Montana Committeewoman provide valuable insight and connection to interior west Democrats, people that are numerous but feel ignored by the DNC, led by mostly coastal and Midwest Democrats. The South Carolina Committeeman has good insight into the South, the South Bend Mayor has valuable grassroots administrative experience and brings a young outlook to the DNC, the Committeeman from New Hampshire bring experience with more rural New England states.

[IronLionZion]

22. I like what I read about Perez so far, and it was good of him to include Ellison

He's got a great record for unions, labor rights, civil rights, voting rights, etc. He's fought the good fight.

I'm not sure either of them would win over rural Americans or any Trumpers. We are firmly established as the party that openly supports diversity, which is a good thing. I am very happy to see a Latino lead our party.

I've met Keith Ellison and he was my congressman when I lived in Minneapolis and he's a good choice.

I think we're in good hands with Perez.

[riversedge]

28. I favored Perez-I think he has more national exposure and contacts in most states simply of his

being the Labor secretary. But probably either one would been good.

This selection process went on too long and hope they decide to move it up next. We lost some valuable time needed for organizing IMHO.

[Blue_true]

40. I think they should add the Montana Committeewoman

to a permanent DNC position. She brings valuable insight from a part of the country where there are Democrats who often pass up elections, we need to find out why.

Look, because we respect and welcome diversity, we will never be the type on mindlessly aggregate party the Republican Party is. But we can use our diversity to the enormous advantage it provides us. We need to stop the infighting and accept that we have different views on how fast we can make progress against an irrational republican opposition.

[nini]

30. I like them both.. we're lucky we have such good people to choose from

I am tiring of the constant fighting... I wanna fight republicans not my own side.

[nini]

34. I'm farther left than most people realize here

But I am also practical and know you have to fight the war a battle at a time. There's too many stupid/brainwashed people in this country to pull them all back to reality in one election cycle.

It sucks and I hate it. The republicans took 40 years or so to get us to this point. It wont' be undone overnight especially with the stupid idiots on social media.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

32. and he was a civil rights lawyer for Pete's sake!

He is not "establishment" as NYTimes is headlining. Keeping corporate funding is going to be a bigger obstacle to purity test. But I totally get why.

[Blue_true]

41. Rich people that have the same values as the Democratic Party

will continue to help fund party activities and candidates.

[alarimer]

35. Yes, seems like a stretch.

In any case, he has to be better than the previous one (not a high bar, admittedly).

[aikoaiko]

37. All that really matters is now and going forward.

We have examples within the party that came up poor and disadvantaged, but ended up aligning with the rich and powerful.

I'm willing to give Perez a chance.

[lapucelle]

39. We need to stop allowing the media to frame the narrative.

They have a vested interest in stirring the pot for ratings. By and large, they are not honest brokers. Look at the extent to which they criminalized whatever mistakes the Clintons made while normalizing the Tea Party crazies and then the dangerous and odious Trump.

We need to push back and stop letting them define our party. We need to start telling them to their faces that they are supposed to be among the gatekeepers of our democracy and that they had a first amendment duty which they abrogated in favor of ratings and cash. There's a name for that. It's not journalist.

[MadDAsHell]

43. Uh, being Latino has zilch to do with being progressive.

Susana Martinez is Latina...

Drumpf got like 30% of the Latino vote...

We need to stop assuming politics and votes based on skin color. It's a losing strategy.

[Cha]

44. Tom Perez is no susan martinez. He's not the insult "establishment".