Ellison tells DNC members that DNC chair rival is trying to skew race

[brooklynite]

Source: Washington Post

In a letter sent to members of the Democratic National Committee, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) is accusing a DNC chair rival of misleading committee members to give the impression that the race was surging toward his opponent.

“One of the other great candidates for this race released an unverifiable public whip count earlier this week,” Ellison said in the letter. “You received a voicemail, email and a text message trying to make the race sound like it is over. And the goal is clear: to exert pressure on you. We chose not to engage in the same tactics because we believe you deserve the respect to make your own decision without a finger on the scale. However, I feel compelled to respond: we are very confident in our whip count and are in an excellent position to win next week.”

Ellison’s letter did not mention Thomas Perez, but two days ago the former labor secretary released a memo claiming that 180 of the DNC’s 447 members had endorsed him — putting him just 44 votes away from victory at the Feb. 25 election in Atlanta. That rankled Ellison’s team, which said it believed that some of the members counted by Perez were still up for grabs.

While Ellison and Perez are personal friends, and have declined to attack each other during the campaign, supporters of Ellison — who was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — have looked for evidence that the race is being skewed against him.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/02/16/ellison-tells-dnc-members-that-dnc-chair-rival-is-trying-to-skew-race/?utm_term=.cf7092950b2a

[elleng]

1. Damn, just what we need,

PUBLIC squabbling among DNC Chair 'contestants!'

[MBS]

61. My thoughts exactly. n/t

[tech3149]

80. In case you hadn't noticed

This crap is going on at all levels of the party. Two I am more familiar with are PA and Fla. Established "leadership" are pulling no punches to assure that the status quo is upheld rules be damned. New blood and ideas need not apply.

[elleng]

85. Haven't been following it,

and 'thanks' to your warning, I WON'T.
P.S. Same 'here,' it seems.

[Renew Deal]

2. Is Ellison going to whine when things don't go his way?

[joshcryer]

6. Of course he is.

Which is why he is incapable of uniting the party.

[Ken Burch]

13. Keith's done nothing to deserve defeat.

He's the only candidate saying we need to stop seeking corporate donors and start standing in support of justice struggles in addition to mere electoral victory.

The others would be ok, but none of them will be transformative.

And none of the others will do what we need to do to win. They'll be mundanely competent and decent but none will rev us up and bring the fight.

Worst of all, it we choose one of the others, we'd be caving in to Islamophobia.

[joshcryer]

23. Obama banned corporate donations to the DNC until 2016.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/dnc-allowing-donations-from-federal-lobbyists-and-pacs/2016/02/12/22b1c38c-d196-11e5-88cd-753e80cd29ad_story.html

Which is precisely why the Democrats lost race after race after race after race. We didn't fight fire with fire. It's time to accept that to fight the Republicans, who have accepted corporate donations, and to return in kind. The reason the RNC could afford to pay for that down ticket race in a backwater rural town to get that district to go to a Republican is really really simple math

Ellison cannot credibly do this, he would have to create some sort of "grassroots donation drive" that would rely on meager donations from a given district (and not the corporate donors that could actually impact the fundraising drives). The RNC would still outspend you 5 to 1 in those areas.

I actually prefer Pete Buttigieg over Perez. But Ellison is a non-starter for me. He's divisive, his people are divisive, and overall he is trying to pull the whole "if I didn't win it was rigged" bullshit that Sanders people pulled.

[alarimer]

29. Selling out to corporations is how they lose races

No one will seriously believe anyone is "working for the people" when they turn around and solicit corporate donations for campaigns. Integrity will always be questioned in that case, rightfully so.

[joshcryer]

54. They gained hundreds of federal seats...

...and thousands of local seats, appealing to local businesses and corporate donors. They own the legislatures throughout America, and most of the governorships.

[Yavin4]

87. Not EVERY corporation is evil.

Thinking in binary terms limits are ability to fight Republicans. Some corporations treat their workers well and are assets to their communities. Using a broad brush to paint all of them as evil is misguided.

[George II]

25. He's done nothing to deserve victory.

[Cha]

44. Exactly.. and now this. FYI. I just saw this tweet from Perez..

it's OT but I like it.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[La Lioness Priyanka]

82. +1

[Demsrule86]

72. See I think that fact disqualifies Keith.

No person like United...but it is the law. With this sort of purity crap ...we could lose Sherrod Brown's seat in Ohio and other...the idea that he would starve our guys makes me say absolutely not. I sincerely hop Perez gets it. Money is particularly important in states races also.

[Ken Burch]

93. We had corporate money in '16. The results proved it doesn't help.

What good is money if it doesn't elect us?

It's probably due to the corporate money that we didn't take clear "Stand with Standing Rock" and "No TPP" stands in the fall.

We are a good party, but we can only win by standing with the many against the few.

[Demsrule86]

101. We would not even have a chance without funding.

We lost narrowly for many reasons...but the idea that purging our party of corporate backers is foolish... and in 18 would probably cause Sherrod Brown to lose...the Koch's are expected to put up 100 million dollars to defeat him...and in off year elections particularly, money is an issue...I am not for Keith as DNC head because a part of the Democratic big tent won't support him...the Jewish-American organizations have already come out against him strongly...he would be the story ...not the folks he was trying to elect. And I don't want purity purges...we keep our donors. We need them... United must be repealed before we make out people live by purity rules. I like Keith and believe he will serve us well in the House.

[Ken Burch]

102. It's not "purity"...it's principle.

At some point, we have to stop acting as though it's childish to expect this party to have some points beyond which it won't go.

And if we would have done worse without the corporate funds, that is a comment on the changes we need to make to better connect with people.

For decades now, we as a party have acted as though it's absurd to try to actually generate enthusiasm for our candidates or our platform. You'd have thought Obama's victory-by-enthusiasm would have broken through that mindset.

And everything I said there I've been saying since the Eighties.

[Demsrule86]

103. Ken, winning is not everything it is the only thing...

"principles" will not save liberalism...winning will. And in the age of United starving our candidates will worsen an already bad situation. Perhaps, you think a Sherrod Brown loss would be acceptable if it is principled and the GOP with Koch money won...not me babe.

[Ken Burch]

105. I want to win as much as you do.

The best way to win is to actually get out there and make an unapologetic case for progressive change.

No corporate donor is going to donate to help Sherrod Brown or any other pro-working class Dem.

[DonnaRx7]

107. What good is winning if you are broken, broken in that we would have no "principles"?

[Demsrule86]

109. Easy answer...Trump would not be president...nothing could be worse

Winning is everything ...when you face the GOP who are truly evil and will destroy this country and possibly the world. "What good is winning?"....come on. I suppose you think the courts are unimportant, those who will die without healthcare, immigrants, LGBTQ...not important...just angelic purity...sorry. We must win.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

81. neither has Perez. nt

[MADem]

92. He's done nothing to "deserve" victory, either. Bottom line--we don't need whining.

And that "caving in to Islamophobia" nonsense is a canard. What an absurd comment.

I'll bet most Democrats couldn't pick him out of a line-up and would stereotypically peg him as AME if challenged to categorize his religion after they finally got a look at him.

He can make his case, or not. But I think all of us have had enough of the "game is rigged" bullshit--that kind of whinging gave us TRUMP.

[hrmjustin]

95. I don't always agree with you but respect your voice, but...

... I cannot respect your comment "Worst of all, it we choose one of the others, we'd be caving in to Islamophobia." because it is simply untrue. If Ellison wins or loses it is because of the case he made for himself.

Do not insult us with this Islamophobia comment.

[LisaM]

9. I don't understand the push to put him in charge.

Frankly, I was completely miffed when Michael Moore went to the Women's march and in one breath said "we need more women leaders!" and then in (almost literally) the next said, "I support Keith Ellison for head of the DNC!"

I really think we need someone not currently in office who can focus on this, and I also (this is just me) want someone not associated with Bernie Sanders at this point. It's my opinion that Sanders wants to rip apart the Democratic Party. He's succeeded wildly up to this point; I don't feel like helping him out any further.

[Ken Burch]

14. I don't understand the obsession with stopping him.

From the moment Keith entered the race, most of the establishment wing of the party has been bound and determined to stop him.

Some want him beaten just because he supported Bernie last year, and that's an absurdly petty reason to stop the guy.

[LisaM]

18. I disagree with you there.

Bernie Sanders is not helping the Democrats at this point. It's my opinion, and you are welcome to disagree, that Bernie wants to tear up the party. I'd prefer not to help him in his task.

At any rate, I think it makes more sense to get someone who's not in office at the moment.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

24. More fake outrage from the scorched earth wing of the party.

One guy sends a voicemail saying I'm winning and the other guy says no he's not.

Omg!!!!!! Outrage!!!!!!! He's tearing us apaaaaaaaaaart!!!!!!!!!!!!!


https://m.

[George II]

26. There is going to be an election in about a week. Why is it that the person who may lose....

....is "stopped", rather than the person who may win advances?

It that what our politics have become?

And I haven't seen (although I haven't read everything on DU) anyone say they "want him beaten just because he supported Bernie last year". I'm sure some may think than and may even have said that, but it's not a situation of "beating" him, its a situation of the candidate that the voters prefer will be the victor, whoever that may be.

You're doing just about the same thing that you're complaining others are doing. Have you expressed your preference, and if so what is that? Do you support Ellison, and if so is it "just because he supported Bernie last year"?

[alarimer]

30. It's the establishment responsible for losing election after election.

I see no need to continue the status quo. That is the worst thing to do. The Democratic Party is so afraid of losing its corporate backers, yet they cannot seriously claim to be the "party of the people" unless actually start to move away from being the party of Wall Street.

I'm losing hope that they have learned the lessons of 2016.

[LisaM]

33. The Democrats won a majority of voters.

At flaw is the system, not the message. And we need to widen the base, not narrow it.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

38. Won a majority of voters, as we are all far too aware of, doesn't win the election.

We need leadership with more than an eighth grade civics class understanding of the system AND the strategy it takes to actually win based on THOSE parameters.

Ignoring Michigan and Wisconsin were the "flaws"

[LisaM]

40. And voters knocked off the system in both those states were process.

To me, the first order of business is to enfranchise everyone, and then to GOTV. There is a PAC called Let America Vote that I plan to look into (I basically don't trust things on first glance), because voter suppression is a very major issue that I think we cannot afford to overlook. Long lines, broken equipment, onerous ID requirements, scare tactics at voting sites - these are huge issues that we simply cannot ignore.

[starshine00]

43. so much truth

plus they are planning to disenfranchise even more voters as far as I understand.
I think when the next pres. election comes around we will be in a completely different position. This time people were smug and stupid. After Pence and Trump I think some at least will have learned their lesson.

[LisaM]

48. I really think that we need to outwit them at this game.

Instead of chasing after everything they're doing to prevent voting, I think we need to work towards things that make it easier to register. They can't throw everyone off the rolls. Some states are doing automatic registration. I think it's smart to push for that, rather than this whack-a-mole we're engaged in.

[Demsrule86]

74. That is untrue.

The faux left like Sarandon and Green types cost us a close election just as they did in 2000 and their ragging on Obama cost us the House in 09 as well. Ellison would not be a good choice...we need a practical person not an ideologue...I like Keith...he should stay in the House; we need him there.

[LanternWaste]

35. Which members of the "establishment wing of the party" does this apply to?

"Some want him beaten just because he supported Bernie last year..."

Which members of the "establishment wing of the party" does this apply to and on what objective sources is that based on? Or was that simply an absurdly petty allegation?

[regnaD kciN]

56. It's ironic that some want to brand him as a devil because he's linked to Sanders

…while ignoring that he's also supported by Chuck Schumer, a mainstream Democratic leader if there ever was one.

And, personally, I'm sick of anyone who mainly sees this contest as a way to re-fight last year's primary campaign, as if defeating the current administration is less important than making sure you crush the perceived surrogate of the candidate who opposed your favorite.

[JHan]

78. You actually proved the comment you're responding to false.

The "establishment wing of the party hate him" argument is simply not true.

[harun]

60. Nailed it.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

110. I think there needs to be real change in the DNC

[Me.]

28. Sarandon's Endorment Last Night Didn't Help Him Either

You know, the revolution and all that.

[Demsrule86]

75. I want nothing that selfish entitled green party person wants.

[JudyM]

31. You might want to check what Bernie's been doing in the way of helping the party.

He's been working overtime trying to get people to oppose tRump and the congressional conservatives. He's been creating and cosponsoring legislation to defend democratic issue after issue against the republican machine, including, right out of the gate this term, sponsoring a bill to prevent cuts to social security, Medicare and Medicaid. Immigration, DAPL, drug pricing, torture, financial reform, tRump's appointments, tRump's taxes and conflicts of interest... Right now he's organizing rallies coast to coast with Schumer to fight to keep ACA alive. You may not like him personally, of course, but you might want to actually check into what he's been pounding the pavement about... one of the most active members of congress in fighting tRump... these are actual facts about his support of our party and its positions.

Also, you probably didn't think about this with respect to your comment that "Sanders wants to rip apart the Democratic Party," but you might want to at least consider it:

Don't bash Democratic public figures... This rule also applies to Independents who align themselves with Democrats (eg: Bernie Sanders).
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=termsofservice

[BlueMTexpat]

32. That was the moment when I ceased to applaud anything else

that Michael Moore said.

It was not that I have anything against Ellison per se.

But the Women's March was NOT the moment for that. And Michael Moore's support for the Democratic Party has been in question since the 2000 election, IMO. His actions in 2016 were no help whatsoever.

What has pissed me off from the get-go is the rush to put Keith Ellison in place when the MAJOR reason he is being pushed by so-called "progressives" is because he was a Bernie supporter. I really wanted either Howard Dean - who ALREADY KNOWS how to make Dems competitive nationwide. Or Martin O'Malley - who was initially supported for office in Maryland by Dean and who has a lot of the same ideas. Both were "discouraged" from running ... and I am NOT forgetting that.

In the meantime, O'Malley has been going out and campaigning for candidates in state and local elections around the country, often successfully, thus putting his words into action. He's a great guy and would have been excellent as DNC Chair.

Let Keith Ellison do his job in the House! That's where we need a strong voice. Of those remaining, I truly believe that Tom Perez is the best one to bring the party together - and we wouldn't have to give up any Congressional seat.

[LisaM]

37. I agree with you. n/t

[Cha]

46. Hi, BlueMT.. susan sarandon endorsed Ellison last

night too.. not good.

[BlueMTexpat]

50. Exactly!

Like Moore, Susan has NO political credibility with me when she uses her visibility to chastise Dems over GOPers, which is effectively what she did ALL last year - and continues to do.

Mahalo, Cha! Great to "see" you!

I don't post as often as I did before the terrible outcome. The bitterness and anger that I feel towards those so-called "progressives" who sold us out and inflicted Trump on us - intentionally or inadvertently - have not diminished one whit since November's debacle! If anything, they have grown.

I do not believe that I will ever have the capacity to forgive such traitors. Ever. They may literally have destroyed us all because we didn't conform to their simplistic ideal of perfection.

[Cha]

53. Good to see you, too, Blue!

Everything is so different now as we're trying to make sense of it and fight our way back to Democracy.

It's a shame there are so many in our country who only think of themselves and couldn't care less about the Planet and its people.. that is their shame to bear.

Now for a little levity.. also serious..

Link to tweet

Rogen first noticed Trump Jr. followed him on Twitter and decided to take aim directly at him.

Link to tweet

[Hortensis]

62. Moore's use of despicable right-wing insults to trash Hill

during the primary did it for me. BUT he basically shares our liberal values and is very active against the right, he's an important voice many still respect, and that's more important than the differences. I figure just understand where he's coming from and don't be surprised when he tries to sabotage mainstream Democrats again.

Same for Bernie, even if he is focused on carrying out a radical-left putsch from within. Whatever--Bernie IS carrying out his duties in the position our leadership created just for him: to reach out to others on the farther left who respect him and are suspicious of mainstream Democrats. Not just to encourage them all to vote in 2018, but--critically for democracy--to keep some of the more extreme ones from joining the far right and voting for whatever extremist right-wing leader the Koch machine hopes to woo them away with.

JudyM is right to point out that, both by DU's pragmatic definition of "Democrat" AND that of the Democratic Party leadership, Bernie is very much one of us. He just is. He is one of various leaders of the various factions in the party, and in his case potentially of many not in the party we really, really need to remain with the left.

As for Ellison, seems to me his outstanding qualification for the job is that Bernie supports him. Possibly he wants to put a weak ally in the top position who won't take power away from him.

[BlueMTexpat]

63. I find that it is

exactly what is in your last sentence that bothers me about Ellison's candidacy. Perhaps through Ellison, Bernie wants to do as he pleases with the Democratic Party - while never committing wholeheartedly to it.

Bernie may be a de facto leader of "the left" - whatever the heck that is. I always thought that I was part of "the left" because I have basically lived my life (70+ years) in that way. But I am apparently not "pure" enough for some - especially those who still have a lot of life to live. In any event, I still see Bernie as very much looking out for Bernie and NOT so much for the "team."

A successful DNC Chair must be a team player who can unite ALL groups because we are in a VERY big tent - as shown by our nearly three million popular vote margin in November. Screw the EC!

Please let Keith continue to be a good Congressman! We really do need his voice there. Perhaps he can become DNC Chair in some future time if that is REALLY what he wants and he is not simply being pushed into the forefront by Bernie's factions.

[Hortensis]

66. Agree entirely. You sound like a poor unappreciated liberal,

besieged from both the right and the left. Me too. You'd think our nation's liberal foundations, and the greatness built on them, would protect liberal ideals at least, but it's beginning to look like despising and opposing liberals is progressing to the dangerous extreme of despising democracy itself, and its requirement for governing through consensus.

What's sorta funny, but also alarming as extremism grows, is that while Bernie leads some on the more radical left, others farther left think Bernie's whole crowd are really little more than mainstreamers, malcontents masquerading as revolutionaries.

What's scaring me is that, though liberals are easily the largest orientation on the left, there are enough anti-Democrat il-liberals, all prone to seeking extreme solutions to imaginary crises, to replace our democracy with some version of fascism IF enough of them were to join the right against the Democrats. And there are people who are working on just that.

Other democracies have been destroyed just this way. Which is why, imo, we do need Bernie working with us as much as he is willing to. He just refused an attempt to draft him to lead a new party. He knows he could be taken out, and the party taken over, by a more extreme, equally charismatic competitor with powerful backers.

[BlueMTexpat]

68. I have no problem

with Bernie working with Democratic liberals as much as possible. We need everyone.

My problem is that Bernie seems to believe that Democrats should come crawling to him as the font of all wisdom. THAT I am not willing to do because I simply don't believe that he is.

I am also not sure whether he realizes that he too could be supplanted by someone more to the left and that at least some of his current supporters might be quite fickle. He seems afflicted with hubris to some extent.

In any event, things get scarier and scarier with each passing day.

[Hortensis]

71. Lol. Classic characteristics of extremism on left, and right.

Extreme righteousness--check. Rejection and intolerance of anyone who disagrees--check. Inability to agree that any ideas but their own can have validity--check. A belief that some crisis is about to destroy us if they don't act--check. Hubris--check, check, check.

Incredibly irritating. Bernie's a pretty light version, but just imagine the colleagues who've been living with his insistence that they're all corrupt, and incompetent--but mostly just plain corrupt--for 25 years.

I suspect you may be right that he's not afraid enough that he could be supplanted by a younger, more charismatic, and more authoritarian man. But there has to be some awareness, notably of the potential fickleness among people he's attracted from outside. In rejecting forming his own party for taking over the Dem, he's not just going after its strength and structure, he really needs the stability its liberals and other traditional groups provide.

Which imo is the other reason, beyond there being far more of us, why his efforts will ultimately fail. But if they don't, meet you outside and we'll reform. We could confuse everyone by calling ourselves the Democratic-Republican Party, which, after all, is what we started out as under Jefferson and Madison 225 years ago.

[JHan]

79. enjoyed your exchange with BlueMTexpat, thanks.

lol @Democratic-Republican party lol.

[Hortensis]

98. Lol, all right. Imagine the outrage on the right.

I don't like Andy Jackson's jackass all that much. We could adopt a big umbrella for our image instead, with the Statue of Liberty holding it perhaps.

But seriously, President Obama was worried that what was left of the center wouldn't hold, and it didn't. Those conservatives who haven't lost their minds need people to ally with.

[Cha]

45. susan sarandon endored Ellison for DNC chair last night, too.. Ugh

[harun]

59. Because he has Progressive street cred. People over party.

[Demsrule86]

73. Refighting the primary.

Unless Bernie wants to join the Democratic Party, he should not be involved in this decision. This is a chairmanship of the Democratic Party.

[nikibatts]

34. Wasn't a former Bernie supporter?

Whining is what they do.

[Chipper Chat]

3. Agreed. (agreeing with elleng) And I have the answer.

Barack Obama for head of the DNC.

[LisaM]

19. No.......

IIRC, he was the one that got rid of the Howard Dean 50-state strategy and I vehemently disagreed with that. I wish we could get Howard Dean back.

[Me.]

27. Actually The Real Knife In The Back Came From Rahm

Who was ticked off Dean didn't throw all DNC money in aid of Rahm getting his blue dog losers elected. However, the President agreed to this which was a sorrowful thing and the way they did it was shameful.

[BlueMTexpat]

52. Too true.

The major complaint that I had with Prez O's first term in office was that he allowed himself to be guided too much by Rahm.

Had Prez O stood up to Rahm and named Dean to HHS - as Dean really wanted that post - I believe that we would have seen a health care bill successfully passed that would have been stronger than the ACA and more palatable to all. In that case, GOPers would not have been able to use repealing "Obamacare" as a rallying cry against Dems in the 2010 elections - and thereafter.

Had Prez O stood up to Rahm, we might have had some DOJ prosecutions of bankers and financiers involved in the 2008 financial debacle. That would have been VERY popular. Instead, that rage continues to simmer.

Had Prez O stood up to Rahm, the infrastructure bill might have had a more sweeping reach, as Krugman and others argued, thus putting more money into the pockets of those who desperately needed it and not turning them off entirely to Dems.

Etc., etc., etc.

Of course, we'll never know now. Prez O did a mighty job during his terms in office, especially against a wall of relentless GOPer obstructionism. But without Rahm, I believe that he would have done much better during his first term, especially while he still had majorities of Dems in Congress.

[Me.]

64. Totally Agree Abut Rahm

He was a snake of the 1st order and his blue dog agenda really did damage. I only wish PBO had seen the truth of him but then dealing with a country in complete chaos and disarray was a monumental job leaving room for little else.

[BlueMTexpat]

65. True! eom

[zipplewrath]

89. Can't totally agree

Rahm wasn't it total control in that first year. He advocated an incremental strategy for health insurance reform and Obama went the other way. Summers was the reason that Krugman et. al. were ignored and prevented anyone from actually presenting to POTUS a much larger plan. And Geithner had as much to do with the soft pedaling of the bankers as anyone, although I'm not sure but that Rahm probably agreed.

When you get right down to it, Obama is ultimately responsible for all of this one way or another. I'm not Rahm fan, but he was a symptom as much as a cause.

[Me.]

90. Agree That Rahm Wasn't The Primary Financial Advisor

But my comments were generally focused on the way Dean and consequently the 50 state strategy was banished. And yes PBO is ultimately responsible but considering the mess the BUshies left I think he did a magnificent job of getting this country back on its feet. It does become apparent, however, that good advisors are necessary for one man cannot be an expert in everything and in that first year, I do think PBO let the establishment offer too much guidance. As for Geithner, I thought he was the wrong choice right from the get go.

[zipplewrath]

96. Personal vendetta

The 50 state went away predominately because Rahm hated it. He hated Dean because of it. And he made sure that Dean didn't get into the administration (although I'm not sure what kept him out later on). Obama basically accomplished the minimum he could on recovering the economy. He leveraged the existing TARP and got about the smallest stimulus package that would have any effect at all (it basically stopped the escalating unemployment rate and prevented it from heading deep into double digits). After that, the only real stimulus was the QE that was out of the Fed. Not for a lack of trying on his part, but he never succeeded and in fact played around with the "Grand Bargain" which could have a disaster.

The ACA was a real mixed bag. He let congress dork around far too long, and was way too generous to the GOP that was never going to cooperate. And then the implementation was a short term disaster. All of that led to the losses that followed to some extent. And it may come all crashing down in the next year or so. The Medicaid expansion problem already left far too many without insurance. One really wonders if having Dean involved would have changed any of that. And strangely one wonders if Rahm was right, that they should have just spent 8 years taking one bite after another out of that apple.

[Me.]

97. That Vendetta

Was because Dean wouldn't hand over oodles of DNC money for Rahm's blue dog fantasy, which made Mr. Big Deal Wall Streeter Rahm furious. I thought the whole ceremony replacing Dean with Tim Kaine (awful at the job) but not bothering to either invite Dean or thank him was a disgrace.

[msongs]

21. 8 years of obama as party leader has helped to get us where we are today. no thanks

[leftofcool]

4. Many of us prefer Perez. You know, a full timer?

[StevieM]

20. To be fair to Ellison, who I don't support, he has said that he will give up his House seat if

he is elected DNC Chair.

[Me.]

5. Did REp. Ellison Happen To Mention

That he's tried to make a deal with at least one other candidate. And, was the memo true or false. If true, so what? Frankly, this sounds a lot like the divisive stuff we heard during the primary about poor Senator Sanders being treated unfairly.

[MissKat]

7. Thanks Will Rogers

I am not a member of an organized party.

I am a Democrat.

[murielm99]

8. They need to stop this.

At least it is not getting a lot of coverage, due to the trump drama.

Just elect someone. Get on with it and do the work that needs doing. I have no strong preference here.

[Fast Walker 52]

22. exactly... just get someone competent, and there are several good candidates

[R B Garr]

10. Ugh, not a good sign if divisive accusations are all you have when you have

less votes. Democrats are supposed to be the reality based party, not some phony accusations.

[radical noodle]

11. Oh hell

now he's going to start the "it's not fair" theme?

[leftynyc]

12. FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE

Does he think this whining is helping the party at all?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

86. to publicly air this is childish AF

[George II]

15. Complaints like this LOSE votes rather than gains votes. Doing this publicly all but disqualifies..

...him from heading the DNC.

[BumRushDaShow]

16. Why not just change some rules and do co-chairs and be done with it?

The way things are going right now, it will take more than one person to herd the cats of the Democratic party through this current GOP nightmare.

[nikibatts]

36. Sounds like a plan.

[herding cats]

67. They'd probably just conflict then as well.

This is so ludicrous and unhelpful.

[BumRushDaShow]

69. There will always be "conflicts"

between people with disparate views, goals, and means to an end. But if each "chair" can "speak" on behalf of the larger interests of the wings of the party and then bring that to the DNC as a whole, it will at least establish that there will be advocates for those viewpoints and their voices are being heard.

[herding cats]

70. Excellent point.

I'm willing to support a co-chair scenario if they'd consider it.

[SunSeeker]

17. Oy. Again with the "rigged" meme?

[NurseJackie]

39. Behavior like this helps to illustrate why he's unqualified and ill-equipped to run the party.

We deserve better.

[Scruffy1]

42. Tom is a good man but he doesn't have a lot of electoral experience.

He's never run in a statewide or national race. Keith has been one of the greats in Minnesota for GOTV and working for other candidates. I suppose some of the TV watchers think that he's some "far left loon" like Bill O'Really says but I know him as a hard working, pragmatic politician. Let's see, we always pick our leaders from well heeled Harvard graduates and wonder why we are considered elitist. It's time for a change, and if you keep doing the same stuff you have been doing, you will get the same results. It's the definition of insanity. I remember when Keith came out of nowhere to defeat the retiring congressman's picked successor. He did it through hard work and organizing. I know Franken would never have been elected without Keiths tireless support.

[killbotfactory]

47. I've seen a lot of news stories about how Perez has this almost locked up

I guess his team has nothing to do with that.

[Demsrule86]

76. I hope so.

[Liberaltalker]

49. The DNC has many problems...

One of those glaring problems is an utter lack of transparency in regards to the budget. The DNC raised more money in 2016 than ever before in its history but where did the money go? When you have local state parties that cant even afford to pay their own chairs and staffers let alone organize voters or support their candidates running for local and federal seats; where did all the money go? A large chunk of it went to political consultants who have large contracts with the DNC and expensive and ineffective ad buys... On top of that in many cases DNC members are also employees of these consultant companies or are invested in them. Until we as a party address all the conflicts of interests within the DNC, and until we start properly funding and supporting our local party chapters and candidates we will continue to get trounced election after election. I just dont see Perez being the one to fix the problems. The man will not even address conflicts of interest or transparency of the budget... Lot of problems in the DNC... Hell we have special elections for House seats coming up and the DNC does not even seem interested in those races. I am sorry but I am tired off lossing state elections and federal and it is my personal opinion that a hostile take over of the party is called for. "Unity" is just code for "shut up and let the status quo establishment do its thing." Well the establishment has had years to turn things around and they have failed misserably. Like it or not our party is not unified and there will be a fight ahead for the direction the party will go in. This is unavoidable and is happening right now.

[Justice]

51. So unhelpful

[JustAnotherGen]

55. Meanwhile in the NJ 7th District

We have pretty much already selected our Candidate for 2018 midterms, have our county endorsement convention set up for March, and are moving ahead of the leadership.

We don't have time for this bullshit. Primary is only 4 months away.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

84. +1. not to mention Georgia's 6th district needs help NOW.

[JustAnotherGen]

88. Yep they sure do

They need to move forward - so do we.

Ellison, Perez - doesn't matter. They aren't going to be allowed to fuck things up here. We are organized, we are always ignored regardless of who the leadership is - and we need them to just butt out.

[Vinca]

57. In my mind, this position needs a person who can devote 100% of their time to it.

I like Ellison, but we can't afford a part time chair. Maybe they should consider co-chairs. The last thing we need is mindless infighting.

[Paladin]

58. Unforgivable, to allow party-building opportunities to be squandered like this.

Somebody push Ellison and Perez over in a corner somewhere, so they can continue their pissing contest. We need somebody in charge of the DNC right NOW---somebody smart, tough and organizationally savvy, to harness all the anti-trump anger in the country into reviving the Democratic Party. Crucial legislative races are coming up in the immediate future, races where Democratic victories are desperately needed---and party resources and support aren't showing up. Enough of the self-destructive bullshit, there are real battles to be fought and won.

[MattP]

77. Bernie has merged his mailing list with the Democratic list

That's great news

[La Lioness Priyanka]

83. this was unnecessarily whiny and childish. i expect more from Ellison

[Blue_Tires]

91. A lot of people on the right and left seem to have a hidden stake

in making sure the DNC chairmanship is as drawn out and contentious as it could possibly be.. Why is that, do you think?

[killbotfactory]

99. Follow the money

Oh, that's right, you can't, because the DNC has been keeping where the money goes secret.

Nevermind.

[Blue_Tires]

106. You have no idea how any of this works, do you?

[NCTraveler]

94. Someone in a race for something is claiming momentum?

Say it ain't so.



Dear Mr. Ellison,

Now is not the best time for you to write these things. It seems divisive and that is one of the main things holding you back. Maybe you should try to generate your own image of momentum. An image of unity if you will.

Sincerely,

Common Sense

[NurseJackie]

100. HA!! You've got a way of getting to the heart of the matter!!

Sincerely,
Common Sense

Twisting the knife a little... but funny as hell!

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

104. I want Perez in hopes that people will stop talking about Bernie Sanders

Beyond sick of him, so whoever he supports I want the opposite.

[ismnotwasm]

108. Oh for Fucks sake.