Bernie Sanders has thrown his support behind Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison in the contest to lead the DNC. This should surprise no one because Sanders represents the radical far-left wing of the Democratic Party and that’s where Ellison would steer the party as chairman.
The Washington Times reports:
Bernie Sanders vows Keith Ellison will usher in ‘real change’ at DNCSen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont went to bat Wednesday for Rep. Keith Ellison’s bid to become the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee, saying the status quo is not working and that the Minnesota Democrat has the gumption to move the party in a different direction.Speaking at an event hosted by the American Federation of Teachers in Washington, Mr. Sanders said the Democratic Party must change course after losing so much ground in Congress and in statehouses across the country over the past decade.“Brothers and sisters, the status quo is not working and we will not succeed if we continue along the same-old/same-old path,” Mr. Sanders said at a campaign event with Mr. Ellison. “Now is the time for real change in the Democratic Party.”“Now is a time for a chair of the Democratic Party who has a very different vision of the party than those that are in control today,” said Mr. Sanders, a self-described socialist. “Now is the time for Keith Ellison to become chair of the Democratic Party.”
Ellison would be an awful choice for the DNC at a time when they need to win back white working class voters but sometimes you just can’t save people from themselves.
Professor Jacobson has written extensively about Ellison:
Like Sanders, progressive activist and writer Brent Budowski is pushing for Democrats to get on the left wing train.
He writes at The Hill:
Bernie Sanders is right about the DNCSen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is right, and certain people close to the Obama White House and the Hillary Clinton campaign are wrong, about the future direction of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).The Sanders vision of the DNC is that it should be a popular-based center of organization and small-donor fundraising that supports Democrats at all levels of national and state politics and government, and promotes an agenda that offers a powerful alternative to the crony capitalism, insiderism, elitism and phony populism of President-elect Donald Trump.A pure version of the Sanders vision is the new group he inspired, Our Revolution, an excellent organization that champions progressive causes and candidates.The opposing vision of the DNC would continue the status quo of recent years, when it was far too focused on supporting the Obama White House and largely uninterested in supporting Democrats in Congress and at the state and local level.
Of course, after talking about leaving the past behind for a new and improved DNC, he says this:
The best formula, in my opinion, is an updated version of the Kennedys. Jack, Bobby and Ted all combined an insurgent style of mobilizing grassroots workers and voters behind a progressive agenda that appealed to both minority voters and white ethnic and working-class voters.
Nothing says party of the future like invoking Jack Kennedy, right?
Featured image is a screen cap.
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