With emotions high after a huge loss for Democrats this election season, the blame game is running rampant on social media still. The Hillary supporters blame the Bernie supporters. The Bernie supporters blame the Hillary supporters. It’s the DNC’s fault. It’s the Green Party voter’s fault. There should be no electoral college. There should be open primaries in every state. On and on. We all have our viewpoints on how a Trump presidency happened but what is undeniable is that the Democratic Party is divided.
So, how do we fix this? Where does the mending begin? The next most important decision for the Democratic National Committee is in January where they will appoint the next Chairman. The two most talked about currently are Howard Dean and Keith Ellison of Minnesota. Bernie Sanders recently publicly endorsed Keith Ellison saying,
“We must also do everything we can to elect Democrats in Congress in 2018, and to take back the White House in 2020. We need a Democratic National Committee led by a progressive who understands the dire need to listen to working families, not the political establishment or the billionaire class. That is why I support Keith Ellison to be the next Chair of the Democratic National Committee, and why I hope you’ll join me in advocating for him to lead the DNC.” – Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders also tweeted, “@Keith Ellison understands that the future of the Democratic Party has got to be grassroots activism.” We’ve seen the acknowledgment from the DNC already that they are in full agreement with the need for grassroots organizing via the Victory Council they created this September.
Could this decision be the first step to mending ties and bringing so many back to the Democratic Party that exited after the Democratic National Convention? Will the Party seek to truly unite or are we just beginning a long path of division that could affect us for many years to come?
At some point the Democratic Party is going to have to face the fact that anyone tied to establishment is not going to receive full support from Party members. As Co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Representative for the 5th District in Minnesota, Keith Ellison has spoken out about the issues that the Progressives today want to see change. He has the ability to unite the differences within the Party and repair the divide that was created.
With Howard Dean now seen as a Big Pharma lobbyist and part of the elite, will the DNC learn from where they went wrong this election or will we see yet another establishment leader in the Party? One can only hope this nightmare will soon end. No matter their decision, what we do know is that Progressives are building and working from the bottom up to replace those connected with the establishment. January will say a lot for the Democratic National Committee and whether we will truly unite or have to work even harder to stop this madness.
MoveOn.org and Bernie Sanders have petitions to take to the DNC in support of Rep. Keith Ellison. Let’s make our voices heard and show the Party where we believe the healing can begin.
mp says
November 11, 2016 at 3:21 pmI fully agree with supporting the most progressive, outsider Chair possible. But, if you even THINK about not fully supporting whoever is chosen, once the decision is made, then you will be part of the problem in 2018 and 2020, just like you most likely were in 2016. If you did not fully support and vote for Hillary in 2016 then you supported and voted for Trump. If you did not vote for Hillary, then it is YOUR guy who will be our next President. If you didn’t get out and vote for Hillary, then please think about this very thoroughly and carefully, how is that working out for you, so far?