The Perez/Ellison DNC Leadership Team- Prospects?
It's already starting.
The attempts to drive a spoke between the newly-elected DNC Chair and his promptly-selected deputy. Wikileaks has revived the tired old Perez/Podesta Doing-the-Dirty-on-Sanders email kerfuffle. Various more-in-sorrow-than-anger voices are raised from those identifying themselves as "true Progressives" lamenting the demise of all hope for the future of the Party. Predicting everything from a Wall Street takeover of the Party (really? Why would they? Don't they have everything they've ever wanted and more in the DicktaterTot's Administration already?) to an "elitist" coup that will leave the Party solidly in the hands of a feeble and malign "establishment."
Well, that was inevitable.
The headline hype and social media augmentation breathlessly painting a "battle for the soul of the Democratic Party" and inflating speculation about primary rehashing and factional squabbles potentially bringing about Democratmaggedon have ricocheted through the media for days.
Instead, we end up with something that could, when the adrenaline dissipates and most of the media moves on to other topics, be regarded as a best-case scenario.
If (and I'm not denying it's a fairly chunky "if"
Tom and Keith can put aside the campaign rhetoric and work out a team strategy, we could have a hella powerful engine under the hood, finally. These are both experienced leaders, and their strengths complement each others' deficits and blind spots nicely.
Potentially, we have it all, now: Cool calculation and passionate drive. Populism and pragmatism. Insider knowledge and outsider inspiration.
Knowing Keith very slightly from back when I lived in the Twin Cities, I think that tonight, he might be feeling just a teeny-tiny smidgeon of relief. As a sitting Congresscritter, his plate was already full as it could hold. But his commitment to bringing youth, diversity, and progressive ideals into the process made him a great potential Chair. He's still needed, though, as an African American, a Muslim, and a solid progressive voice, in the House.
It must have been quite a quandary for him, when it looked close. Keith is not the kind of guy who can look himself in the mirror comfortably if he thinks he's not putting one hundred percent-plus into his commitments.
And I imagine Tom's a bit hopeful and relieved as well, with Keith's prompt and cordial acceptance of the Deputy role. Because Keith's got the street cred, the drive, and the lightning-rod quality that Tom has never worked into his own leadership style. And in his own way, Tom is a straight-up kinda guy, who doesn't pretend to be what he isn't.
If it weren't for one thing, I'd be dancing for joy at this outcome, and sending a "thank you" email to every single national committee member.
But the one thing is a big one:
There are some folks who are quite anxious for this partnership to fail, and who will be doing everything they can to bring that failure about.
Some of them are flat-out opponents from the GOP and the right, working under cover within our ranks to submarine any vestige of efficacy in the Party. They disguise themselves as centrist concern trolls, 'true Progressives' on the far Left, disgruntled primary survivors still certain that enough blame and shame will 'turn the Party in the right direction.' (Which, from their standpoint, is no direction at all, a never-ending circular firing squad.)
Some of them have nothing to do with the GOP or the right, and they're not under any kind of 'cover' at all. They sincerely believe that their perspective and ONLY their perspective is the right direction for the Party and if everyone else doesn't see it, the only thing to do is keep throwing sand in the gears and trying to stop the machine to MAKE EVERYONE LISTEN TO THEM because THEY HAVE THE ONLY ANSWER! History proves it! Nothing else has ever worked! Everything they disagree with- business as usual, the horrible results of the last election, everything that's gone wrong is ALL BECAUSE WE WON'T DO IT THEIR WAY! They're sincere. They want the Democrats to be good and strong and true and potent in behalf of the American People.
Bless their hearts.
They've always been with us. I've spent some time in those ranks, myself. We need them, because in fact, a lot of the things they push for are the things we do need to be doing.
Just, maybe, not as fast or as thoroughly or with as much disregard for other points of view and/or the pragmatic realities of politics in America as they would like.
And then, there's the opposite numbers: The ones who believe Money Buys Anything. The ones who really do have nothing but contempt for idealism and passion, other than as exploitable tools to be used and discarded. And the ones (yes, even we Democrats have a few of these) who believe All Change is Bad, and will do whatever it takes to throw sand in the gears and stop the machine to keep things from moving into scary new territory.
We have all of those.
And they're all of them quite vulnerable to manipulation-- by that first group of undercover fifth-columnists, and by the larger cadre of opinion, exhortation, analysis, and more from special interests, pundits, etcetera.
So it comes down to this: Are there enough of us who are determined to make the Democratic Party a true Big Tent for Americans from a broad spectrum of policy, issue, and ideological standpoints, to keep the bus on the road while the passengers work out compromises and disagreements and agendas from all our various perspectives?
Having been to a Congressional Town Hall today, and a Party Ward meeting last week, I think there's a distinct possibility there is.
And that this new leadership team, if we'll work with them and allow them to work with us, could be amazingly effective.
What think you, Democrats?
interestedly,
Bright
= new reply since forum marked as read
And his only campaign experience is running for a county board seat. Once.
If Perez and Ellison were/are so so exactly progressively similar, letting Ellison take the chair would.have gone a long way to healing the breach.
If Twitter and the rest of the bigger social media platforms are any indication of reality outside discussion board bubbles, this was an unnecessary move.
