Who Shall Lead Us?
The next big election is already upon us — the race for the DNC Chair. Dems are already squaring off, sides are being drawn, expletives are being thrown. Elections are the best. This shouldn’t turn into a battle between Clinton and Sanders supporters, but it will has.
Sanders has come out in support of Rep. Keith Ellison, but others aren’t that impressed especially with support from the Washing Dem elite like Schumer and Reid. Glen Maxey, a Texas DNC official who likes referring to himself in the third person said, “Glen Maxey ain’t voting for nobody because they told me to.”
Howard Dean has thrown his hat in to the ring. With his formable record and his promise to do the job full time, he has a good chance.
There are others that may be interested: Ilyse Hogue, Raymond Buckley, Xavier Becerra, Martin O’Malley, and R.T. Rybak, to name a few.
As Mo Elleithee said,“You typically look for three things when you’re looking for a chair. A good fundraiser, a good messenger and someone who can focus on infrastructure. President Trump will be the best fundraiser the DNC will ever have. So let’s focus on the other two.”
Do you agree with Elleithee that we don’t have to focus on fundraising? I don’t. All three are important aspects of the DNC chair. Who would you like to see run the Democratic Party over the next four years? What do you want them to do?
Tags: Democratic Party
The clearest thinking Democrat I’ve read in the past year is Robert Reich. Whoever Reich is for, I’m for.
The DNC chair won’t “lead” us. The tone and the brand of the party will be set by the legislation we block and the compromises we make. And that for better or worse will be led by Schumer.
That said, I have nostalgia for Dean, but I don’t trust my instincts here because the party now belongs to the young. With or without Dean we still need a 50 state strategy because Repubs are killing us in the statehouses.
Fundraising is still important, but we will have to learn how to raise big money with small donations, and stop sucking up to corporations.
The party belongs to the people who show up to run it. From where I sit, there aren’t very many young people yet.
I strongly hope Dean gets it. But everyone knows I will vote for competence over optics pretty much any day of the week. As I noted to someone on FB, Dean pissed off alot of Dems who thought he was interfering in their turf and disagreed on his 50 State focus (rather than swing states and presidentials). He also said what was on his mind which didn’t make him a ton of friends, either. Still, there is no doubt that he was the most effective DNC chair in ages. And the fact that Schumer and other traditional Dems support Ellison tells me that 1) they are still mad at Dean and 2) Ellison won’t go too far off of the reservation.
Dean has become an angry old man with a bad dye job who sold his soul to the HRC campaign. He stuck the shiv in Bernie early on. No way Howard Dean!
I don’t see why Ellison and Dean can’t be co-chairs. Ellison can be the face of the party and fundraising guy, Dean can be the nitty-gritty guy who works on getting people elected. Or Ellison could focus on federal elections and Dean can work on building up state parties.
I’m fine with almost anyone. I like Dean and Ellison.
Dean was an angry young man too. This is a time for anger.
I have known Glen Maxie for over 30 years, DNC, Texas and Texas Democratic Party staffer and former out member of the Texas State Legislature. He is spot on with his DNC Chair remarks. There is a huge problem when we of the grassroots in our party hear our electeds tell us whom to support for DNC positions. This violates a basic principle of progressivism; that our Party births, oversees and disciplines those who stray from our basic mission of keeping them honest. We just have to take leave of this tail wagging the dog stuff. I am stunned that both Warren and Sanders chose to impose their views on our authority.
Ellison is a sterling legislator and progressive leader but the DNC Chair job certainly now of all times, is a full time job. This is a party now of the young, but still also the party of their elder grassroots organizers who know a few things they are still learning from us, if they are humble enough to listen. The age of the Chair is a secondary consideration; competence and track record of party building are the key qualifications. That may be Dean, if he can explain his most recent lobbying work as not having betrayed our trust on healthcare reform or others who have or can earn the trust of State Party Chairs and the rank and file. This Bernie/Hillary supporter stuff is now immaterial, or at least should be. Jennifer Granholm also comes to mind if she can put her Cal Berkley work on hold.
Rumors of Joe Biden as DNC Chair.
Just me, but optics matter. Democrats will never get a hearing with a Muslim leading them. Sad but true.
DNC Chair supposed to be a full time job according to its charter. They apparently never enforced it. Joe will never do it, hes too big for that. Surprised they let Wasserman Schultz do it as Congresswoman. She was a total disaster. They need a FULL TIME focused Chair.