The lesson Democrats are learning from the evisceration of the Democratic Party at the state level, the continuing loss of control of Congress, and the defeat in the presidential election is not that Democrats need to move back to the center.No, it’s that Democrats need to move not just further to the left, but to the fringe left.Several top Democrats, including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer, are backing Keith Ellison, Democratic Congressman from Minnesota, as the next DNC Chair. Daily Kos reports:
Keith Ellison is rapidly pulling in serious endorsements as the next DNC chair. The Minnesota Representative has already lined up support from Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who said that Ellison would be “terrific.” Now Rep. Ellison also has Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in his corner.
Schumer spoke with Ellison Thursday afternoon and “supports him for chair,” according to a source close to Schumer, who added: “Without a Democratic White House, Schumer’s view is the DNC is where grassroots organizing in sync with leg battles should be organized.” Schumer’s nod comes as others like former DNC Chair Howard Dean have launched their own campaigns to run the embattled organization. Ellison, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, hasn’t officially thrown his hat in the ring, though he has said he’ll make an announcement on Monday.
In case you are not familiar with Ellison:
Ellison was the first Muslim elected to federal office when he won his seat in 2006. Ellison also has had ties with Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam.Ellison repeatedly has been regarded as one of the most liberal members of Congress.He supported impeaching then-Vice President Dick Cheney, compared President George W. Bush to Hitler, and blamed Bush for the September 11 attacks.
Ellison has promoted the false claim that Israel practices Apartheid:
Ellison was one of Bernie Sanders’ representatives on the Democratic Platform committee, where he joined with Israel-haters Cornel West and John Zogby in trying to move the party against Israel. That effort was blocked by Clinton supporters. While Ellison is not as crazy anti-Israel as West and Zogby, his elevation to DNC Chair would distance the party even further from the overwhelming support of the American people for Israel.
Power Line, based in Minnesota, has an extensive article archive on Ellison.
Ellison embarrassingly thought Trump was ‘Worst Republican Nominee Since George Wallace’ (Wallace, of course, was a Democrat and never was the nominee):
If Ellison is elected DNC, it would shift the party even further from the mainstream, Could The Left Stage a DNC Coup?:
In the wake of Hillary Clinton’s stunning loss this week, progressives are moving quickly to fill the power vacuum left in the Democratic Party and eyeing a takeover of the Democratic National Committee, with Rep. Keith Ellison gaining momentum as the left’s apparent candidate of choice to lead it.The next chair of the DNC will play a key leadership role as the party builds itself back from defeat, and their election early next year will be a key test in the struggle for control of the party between the so-called establishment and a more populist wing that largely backed Bernie Sanders in the primary.
Howard Dean, who also is under consideration, recognizes the danger to the party from leaving behind the majority of Americans:
There was a time when Ellison was considered fringe even by leftist Democratic circles. No longer. The Democratic Party itself has become fringe outside the coasts.
Republicans should rejoice if Ellison gets the nod:
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