Bernie Sanders tweets congratulations to Chairman Perez

[highplainsdem]

Link to tweet

I congratulate Tom Perez on his election as chairman of the Democratic National Committee and look forward to working with him.

And he adds:

Link to tweet

It's imperative Tom understands that the same-old, same-old isn't working and that we must bring in working and young people in a new way.

I'm sure Tom does understand that. He IS a progressive.

And I hope Bernie's statement might shut down some of the idiotic "Draft Bernie for a People's Party" tweets I'm seeing from people who'd guarantee more GOP victories with their nonsense.

[JHan]

1. K & R

[Wounded Bear]

2. Could have done without the preachy second part...

but it's good he sent congratulations.

[Me.]

3. I Concur

His job is to focus on the Senate and what can be done there...Perez and Ellison will take the DNC in hand

[highplainsdem]

4. I agree, but that's Bernie being Bernie, and I'm sure Tom can handle it.

At least Bernie did congratulate him, which was very important given all the stupid separatist talk I've been reading from some of his supporters, with their Ellison-or-else posts.

[George II]

50. Yes, I'm sure Tom Perez can handle it, but stuff like that emboldens the dissidents.

[uponit7771]

5. +1

[Tom Rinaldo]

6. I see that as more of a realistic move to promote unity

Like it or not we do have some internal divisions as a Party, if not in leadership than certainly at the grass roots level - and often along generational lines. Here Bernie is throwing his own credibility behind Perez by expressing his support of the new Chair and his desire to cooperate with him. And he is retaining that credibility with those who might have reservations about supporting Perez, after Keith lost, by reiterating something that is important to that constituency in his followup tweet. There is always some politics inside a political process. In this case it's all good.

[George II]

43. You don't lecture the new DNC Chairman as as "move to promote unity".

[geek tragedy]

8. eh, it wouldn't have felt sincere without that part, Bernie gonna Bernie nt

[George II]

44. The question is, why does "Bernie gonna be Bernie"?

[nini]

19. That's exactly what makes me crazy about him

I really want to embrace Bernie more but that kind of stuff is not helping.

We're not going to agree on every issue in this big party, but we certainly are all on the same side and need to do the best we can under the situation we face now. Public chastising our leaders is NOT productive.

[metroins]

27. I agree with you

I'm trying to embrace Bernie supporters more but that kind of stuff doesn't help.

[Cha]

23. As I said.. The Winner Tom Perez doesn't need

any damn lectures.

[aikoaiko]

29. Because isolation from alternative views works so well for the DNC?

:

[Cha]

30. Tom Perez, a Latino, Civil Rights Attorney Does Not need any empty

lectures especially.

[aikoaiko]

32. We all need lectures, Cha. We lost to Trump.

laki maikaʻi

[Cha]

34. Nope.. not from him

[aikoaiko]

35. Good luck with that.

laki maikaʻi

[aikoaiko]

28. I could use a lot more of it.

[LisaM]

38. Me too.

I always feel that he has a bit of an ungracious side.

[Kahuna7]

52. Amen. He wouldn't be bernie if he's not being a nudge and a scold. nt

[NurseJackie]

7. Good grief, Bernie. That wasn't necessary.

Why does he want to behave like that? Why couldn't he be a gentleman about it? In three minutes flat, he went from being gracious to being a scolding nanny... insulting Perez's intelligence.

Things like that really don't help. Personally, I believe when he says things like that, it does more harm than good. It creates (or reinforces) the wrongheaded belief that Perez is unqualified and incompetent, or that he doesn't deserve the position.

If anyone else were to be saying such things, people would see it as creating doubts and stumbling blocks so that Perez will fail. But I know Bernie wouldn't intentionally do such a thing, so I have to wonder why it is he'd want to go down that road of negativity.

Weird.

#NoFilters

[ProfessorGAC]

14. And I Think It Was Necessary

So there we are. Is the primary over or not. There's one enemy, and nobody here is among them

[NurseJackie]

15. Why? What purpose did it serve?

So there we are. Is the primary over or not.

Ask Bernie, after his backhanded tweet today, I'd be very interested in hearing his views on that subject.

There's one enemy, and nobody here is among them

Define "here".

14. And I Think It Was Necessary

Why was it necessary for him to scold and finger-wag and insult? What good comes from that? Why treat Perez like he's clueless or undeserving? Why treat Perez like he's the "enemy"?

[Cha]

25. NOPE.. it was decidedly Unnecessary.

[ProfessorGAC]

45. YEP! It was decidedly necessary

See how easy this is? If you like Jackie see scolding there, I can't help and convincing is pointless
If you are determined to see insult where none exists, we are doomed because disunity already has had consequences
It is an accurate statement because targeting the top and ignoring the real ground game (state assemblies, House, Senate) has not worked out for anyone but the R's
I want DNC leadership to be reminded every damned day that they better be trying different ideas
BTW: I'm good with Perez, but he's not a messiah

[Cha]

46. See.. you're putting words in our mouths.. no one is claiming

Tom is a messiah.

But he doesn't need any lectures from BS.

[Kentonio]

53. This has nothing to do with what he actually said.

It's purely your own reaction to Bernie. Those same tweets could have come from someone you actually liked and you'd have nodded along and gone 'yeah that's fair'. But no, because it's Bernie suddenly it's some big insult.

[Cha]

55. Tom Perez and Keith Ellison are quite able to forge ahead on

their own. Brilliant caring leaders.

[Kentonio]

57. We're a party of millions of people each with a voice

No-one, however good or caring gets a free pass to do whatever they want in a leadership position. Perez is there to represent as well as lead, and that means representing both sides of the party. I don't see any problem with the losing side reminding him of that.

[Buddyblazon]

47. I'm with you, GAC.

100% necessary. Not only was Bernie correct...folks need to be reminded repeatedly that "same old" is what lost this election. They'll forget in a matter of
weeks if not reminded constantly what happened.

[Warpy]

9. I pretty much stayed out of the chairman fight threads once Dean dropped out

I knew Perez and Ellison were both good. I just hope they're smart enough to drop the DLC's losing strategy of spending money only in safe races. This is not the way to expand. It's the way to lose.

I also hope he manages to shift the emphasis away from business as usual, but that will be a harder sell since the cash flow is still positive at the top. When it isn't, we'll see.

[Wounded Bear]

36. I listened to some of the speechifying after the vote...

they made all the right statements about localizing and getting out into the rural areas.

I think someone asked about the money, too. There have been some talk about spending unwisely on consultants and such.

We'll see. It's easy to chatter on in a room where everybody is all kumbaya. Let's see when the rubber meets the road.

[joshcryer]

10. Glad he didn't wait eight weeks.

[BainsBane]

18. .

[NurseJackie]

22. ...

[Wounded Bear]

37. I thought about that part, too...

but I left it out.

[grossproffit]

39. *dead* Thread winner!

[Blue_true]

11. He understands it, the guy is a longtime worker rights lawyer. nt

[Cha]

13. Yay, Tom Perez Won and the Winner.. guess what?

He doesn't need any damn lectures.

WINNER Tom Perez!!!!

[NurseJackie]

16. It was a cheap shot, and he owes Perez an apology.

[Cha]

20. What's

new?

[BainsBane]

21. Best to ignore it

Bernie isn't going to change.

[LexVegas]

17. Bernie is the same old same old. Classy as usual. nt

[George II]

24. Bernie, what do you mean "we"?

[Cha]

26. Yeah, Tom Perez is only a Civil Rights Lawyer and worked as

the Sec of Labor under President Obama.

I think BS needs to understand that.

[NanceGreggs]

31. What's imperative here ...

... is that Bernie understand that as a self-declared NON-member of the Party, he is in no position to lecture Democrats about anything.

If Bernie wants to lecture about something, maybe the topic should be how the "same old, same old" rhetoric from an outsider is as tiresome as it is inappropriate.

[aikoaiko]

33. As an invited member of Democratic leadership he is in the best position to lecture.

It's is his reason for being in Democratic leadership.

[George II]

42. Leading isn't lecturing.

[aikoaiko]

49. Perhaps to those who refuse to listen.

Fortunately, there are many in the party who are waking up and are now listening.

[delisen]

51. He wasn't appointed Public Scold but I think Perez can handle bernie issues.

[aikoaiko]

54. You're so right that he wasn't appointed Public Scold.

His job is to help keep the 45% of Democratic primary participants involved with the party.

[delisen]

58. To paraphrase a Vietnam war general-In order to save the party we had to destroy it. nt

[azmom]

40. Same-old, same-old, isn't working.

Love Bernie

[MelissaB]

41. I stand with Bernie!

[Justice]

48. Why not say, like me Tom understands...

Why act like you are communicating only by twitter? Has Bernie never spoken with Tom?

Turns me off

[Cha]

56. Exactly.. you hit on it.