DNC chairman aims for diversity with delegate nominations

[Ken Burch]

28. Look, nobody on this side of the spectrum dismisses the need for diversity.

The fear is that the party leadership sees it as diversity to y put people in from a variety of groups, but all with safe, polite, conventional middle-of-the road sensibilities. I think that's what Bernie, in his horribly badly-worded way, was trying to warn about. He failed in his communication because he sounded like he was equating diversity with tokenism and he should have run his speech by somebody else before he gave it or probably not given it at all. But there's a valid worry there.

I'll give you a hypothetical: If you have a group of people from a variety of ethnic, racial, cultural and religious backgrounds, but they all share essentially the same views about the major questions of the day, if they share the same basic notions about how life should be run, what our role should be in the world, who should have the say, how diverse IS that diversity?

What some of us would argue is that it is as important to have a fiery, challenging "outsider" sensibility in these positions, a sense of greater connection with the powerless and with the need to push for real change from below. I hope the new appointees will bring THAT kind of diversity. This is their chance.