United: Perez And Ellison Move Democrats Toward A Progressive Future

[DonViejo]

Peter Dreier
United: Perez And Ellison Move Democrats Toward A Progressive Future
February 26, 2017 12:45 am

I was hoping that Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota) would win the Democratic National Committee chairmanship because of his experience as an organizer, but former Labor Secretary Tom Perez — who won a narrow victory at the DNC’s Atlanta meeting today — is also a great choice. He’s progressive, pro-worker, an accomplished advocate for civil rights and social justice, and the first Latino in that job. He immediately asked Ellison to serve as deputy chair — a smart move to bring the party together.

Importantly, the delegates at the Atlanta meeting also elected union organizer and immigrant rights activist Maria Elena Durazo — who supported Ellison for the top post — as DNC vice chair. The daughter of migrant farm workers, as head of UNITE HERE’s LA local and then leader of the 800,000-member LA County Federation of Labor, Durazo helped elect progressives throughout the state and helped transform the California Democratic Party into a voice for the disenfranchised, including immigrants.

We now have a Latino and an African American at the top of the DNC, a moderate Democratic minority leader in the Senate (Chuck Schumer) being pushed to the left by the grassroots resistance movement, a democratic socialist (Bernie Sanders) with a large and energized base within the party, and a charismatic and principled progressive woman (Elizabeth Warren) as the strongest voice within the party and the most likely candidate for president in 2020. These are all positive signs.

The battle between Ellison and Perez was often portrayed as a struggle between the party’s “progressive” and the “establishment” wings. That’s a mischaracterization. Both Ellison and Perez are long-time progressives. Perez is hardly a corporate Democrat or a tool of the party’s Wall Street wing. His entire career has been devoted to fighting for civil rights, workers’ rights, and social justice.

Perez is certainly the most progressive DNC chair since Oklahoma Senator Fred Harris occupied that post in 1970. Since then, the position has been held primarily by corporate fundraisers and moderate-to-liberal politicians, including Larry O’Brien, Jean Westwood, Robert S. Strauss, Ken Curtis, John C. White, Charles Manatt, Paul Kirk, Ron Brown, David Wilhelm, Chris Dodd, Donald Fowler, Roy Romer, Steven Grossman, Ed Rendell, Joe Andrew, Terry McAuliffe, Howard Dean, Tim Kaine, and the recently deposed Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

more
http://www.nationalmemo.com/united-perez-ellison/

[vi5]

1. The more I learn and hear about Perez...

..the more I like him. And the more I think that with him AND Ellison working together that we are going in the right direction.

[Gothmog]

3. My passion is voting rights and Tom helped rebuild the DOJ voting rights section

I have met Ellison on a couple of occasions and I like him. I just like Tom Perez a great deal more due to his his work on voting rights. Perez rebuilt the Civil Rights and the voting rights sections of the DOJ. This article was cited on another thread but his quote makes me smile http://prospect.org/article/subtle-force-tom-perez

In October of 2009, Perez was finally confirmed and set out to reform a division in disarray. Under Bush, the division was accused of ousting career prosecutors who were insufficiently conservative and punishing those who didn’t leave. In his early months, it reportedly wasn’t uncommon for staffers to break down in Perez’s office as they recalled the trauma. Within a year, Perez turned around morale and transformed the division into a formidable enforcement machine.

[vi5]

4. Interesting. Even more good information..

..that is going to be one of our biggest issues so someone in charge who is passionate about that and has worked for that is a great person for us to have in charge of ANYTHING.

[Gothmog]

2. I know DNC delegates and I heard that Tom and Keith really like each other

I have heard from a couple delegates at the DNC that Keith and Tom are good friends in the real world. The deputy chair move was planned in advance because of this friendship.

I saw that Ellison was praising Tom the night before the vote. This makes me smile

[yurbud]

5. What will be crucial to see is what DNC does as far as recruiting primary candidates

and who they favor when it's a business candidate against a progressive one.

Frankly, I would vote for a "centrist" if I thought they would at least hold Wall Street accountable and say no to big donors when they ask for something that hurts the rest of us though I realize that puts me in "I want a pony" territory around here.

[Blue_Tires]

6. ttt