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December 02, 2016 02:00 PM UTC

DNC Chair Candidates Converge On Denver

  • 40 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

FRIDAY UPDATE: News breaking from today’s Democratic chair forum via Peter Marcus:

—–

seanscreamWashington Post via the Denver Post, big Democratic names are arriving in Denver for a forum tomorrow featuring candidates to be the next chair of the Democratic National Committee:

The “Future of the Party Forum” comes as the race for chairman of the Democratic National Committee has emerged as a proxy battle for the direction of the party with President-elect Donald Trump preparing to enter the White House and Republicans retaining control of both chambers of Congress.

The hopefuls planning to participate Friday include Ray Buckley, the chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party; Howard Dean, a former governor of Vermont; Keith Ellison, a Minnesota congressman; and Jaime Harrison, the chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party.

Several others are also eyeing the race, including Ilyse Hogue, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, who earlier this week laid out her vision of where the DNC should head in a Medium post. The proposals from Hogue, who has yet to declare her candidacy, include re-examining the electoral college, in which Trump prevailed despite losing the popular vote to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota and former Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont are by most accounts the two top names in the race to be the next DNC chair. Ellison has attracted a bevy of endorsements from leading Democrats like Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, while Gov. Dean’s last tenure as DNC chair is fondly remembered by Democrats due to the success of his so-called “50 State Strategy”–a strategy that coincided with Barack Obama’s victory and the last Democratic majority in Congress.

We’ve been insulated from the worst in Colorado, but since Dean’s chairmanship ended, Democrats have lost power at every level of government, from the U.S. Senate to state houses around the country–and now the White House. The bitter presidential primary battle this year between Sanders and Hillary Clinton, which ended the rule of DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz in a hail of acrimony, has left deep divisions that the next chair will have to bridge.

We doubt tomorrow’s forum will see much press coverage, but it could tell us a lot about the Democratic Party’s future.

Comments

40 thoughts on “DNC Chair Candidates Converge On Denver

  1. Either Dean or Ellison would send a positive message to most Dems. As noted, Dean's 50-state strategy is fondly remembered – and part of the reason why Colorado Dems are in relatively good shape today. Ellison's credibility with much of the party is strong, and his endorsement list is yuge.

    The party's main task IMHO is reconnecting with voters who feel like they're not important to the party and its candidates. The party's problem right now is Electoral College math – we can't afford to lose too many states at the Presidential level even while we're winning the overall popular vote. Secondarily, the party needs to reclaim leadership in more states; that's governorships and legislative majorities in preparation for redistricting 2020.

    The 50-state strategy in Colorado included a 64-county strategy which netted us active party organizations with full executive boards in all 64 counties, and in a number of counties was matched by having all-precinct representation. The party spent money making that happen, and it really paid off here. Local leadership means input that's closer to the ground, more neighbors talking to neighbors. But in today's electorate, that needs to be matched with better listening going up the chain of command.

    That kind of leads to the other half of the Democratic Party problem: messaging. We have policies. We even have a better record of supporting many of the rust belt and farm belt population needs. But we aren't reaching the people we're doing a decent job of helping, and they're not supportive in return. Since we're strictly the minority party at the Federal level for at least the next two years, leadership has to pick a few high-profile battles that are both the right thing to do and also highlight how our party works for the people. And that message needs to come out at every turn when we advocate for the party to try and build its image.

    The Republicans in 2012 had a post-mortem that said "it's the delivery, not the message that's wrong". As it turns out, their problem was apparently not hiring a reality TV star to deliver the same crappy messaging… The Democratic Party, though, really does have a message delivery problem. It wants to do things for people, but too often doesn't present itself as being directly involved with peoples' problems. The perception of a party of "elitists" is IMHO the result of this problem. Cory Booker is an excellent example of someone who always seemed to be out among his constituents back when he was mayor. When 2018 comes around – and again in 2020 – we need to be the party that works with the people, the party we already are but don't show well enough.

    That's what faces the DNC and all of party leadership. I hope we get it.

     

    1. "But we aren't reaching the people we're doing a decent job of helping". The Democratic Party's problem is right here in your quote. Your view of a decent job of helping is disconnected from the vision of help from your target constituents. People don't want job training after government closed down the mine for phony climate change/global warming/global cooling, etc. People don't want help with premium subsidies for ruining the best health care with astronomical deductibles. People don't want help from D. C. in determining who they must like and who they must hate. People don't want help promoting low skilled labor over American  labor.

      1. Your post is a testament to the power of propaganda. The statements you made as "facts": coal mines are shut down because of phony climate change, USA had "the best" health care, but the ACA "ruined" it with high copays, DC tells people whom to like or hate, low skilled labor is promoted over American labor – none of these is factually accurate.

        Yet, Trump voters do believe these statements, because Fox News and Breitbart and the Washington Examiner and Colorado Peak Politics and the Daily Stormer constantly promote them.

        What Dems have to do, I think, is cultivate a "show me" instead of a "tell me" message style. As an example, my district went 60% for Trump, yet passed a MLO tax increase for school repair and construction. That is entirely due to principals and staff taking the time to educate the public, taking tours to see for themselves  the leaking roofs, black mold, threadbare carpets, asbestos tiles,  and asking if that was really what they wanted for their children.

        1. Obama himself said coal fired power plants would go broke if  they built a new one to use coal because of his EPA regulations which are based on the climate change fraud. As power plants have converted to natural gas to meet harsh EPA regulations coal production has declined and so has the allied industries serving coal such as railroads etc.  Your media outlets, NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, specialize in perpetuating the climate change hoax. These are the same media outlets that promoted Hillary Clinton as the smartest, most qualified woman on the planet. The voters aren't buying you brand of propaganda. 

          As you noted, voters in your district saw for themselves and responded to a legitimate need. Your candidate and your policies are being repudiated by the public and your very neighbors. There is no middle ground for the Democratic Party. 

          Please continue supporting Nancy, Elizabeth, Bernie, Keith, Howard and the other extremist on the left to move policy.

          1. Your media outlets, NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, specialize in perpetuating the climate change hoax.  

            Plus about 99% of media in the rest of the world…

            "Our" media?? The nitwittery in you runs deep, don't it?

          2. PP – did you miss the news this morning reporting Ivanka intends to make climate change one of her signature issues? 

            Perhaps you missed the report where the US now employs more people in the renewable energy industry than the combined totals of oil and natural gas?  Or that coal is dead per a Koch Brother (those Libertarians who loathe subsidies)? Or that it's cheap natural gas (with more to come under this Administration) that's really killing the industry

            If you'd been alive 100yrs ago you would have been advocating for buggy whips and lead in our paint. 

          3. Climate change is not a fraud, my friend. If nothing changes, in 50 years, the climate in low lying Colorado will be that of southern Texas and the mountains will be in perpetual burn. That's what the science tell us. You know, Galileo was considered a fraud by many because he claimed the earth was not the center of the universe. 

            1. Ok, what are the personal sacrifices will sign up for to keep the mountains from burning. How much money, what freedoms will you agree to counter this terrible issue 50 years from now?

              1. You are willing to force tax payers to pay more to cool their homes, put out fires, insure their property and dodge climate risks. How about you tell us, how you are going to stop imposing a climate tax on all of us?

              2. PP, you fucking idiot, you're already paying for climate change and you'll just pay more and more until you die. 

                You pay more for food.

                You pay more for insurance.

                You pay more for health care.

                You pay higher taxes to rebuild more roads and bridges that wash out in more severe storms.

                and on and on…

            2. I'm going to be out of town for a few days with better things to do than respond to Pols.

              I am going to appoint Michael to over see all spelling errors and other grammar atrocities. 

              Voyager, you will be in charge of issuing childish remarks previously expressed and maybe coming up with some new ones for our enjoyment.

              Duke you can continue to be the curmudgeon you do so well.

              Mama, you are to see that………..well you will know what to do.

              A C, you are in charge of logic.

              Zapp, you make sure we don't forget who Michael Farrand Bennett is.

              C B, do what you do.

              BigTime, you search for BlueCat who is MIA.

              If I've left some off by mistake, get together for a group hug.

              Be safe!

              PP or, pee pee, or powerful prune, or fill in you own, I'm good with that.

              1. Can we expect Fluffy to magically reappear once you've departed? 

                Safe travels – and Happy (whichever one fits; all religious holidays over the next 10 days: Asura, Yom Kippur, feast of St. Nicholas, Bodhi Day, feast of the Immaculate Conception and the feast of our Lady of Guadalupe) Holidays!

      2.  closed down the mine for phony climate change/global warming/global cooling, etc. 

        This sentence contains the very reason you and your ilk cannot be trusted. Climate change is not phony…it is as real as you are.

        help with premium subsidies for ruining the best health care – 

        the best health care…? really? You mean the most expensive, least comprehensive health care in the civilized world. Maybe you are taken care of, but as is typical of your ilk, you couldn't give a shit less about the millions of Americans who still have no chance at decent care.

        help from D. C. in determining who they must like and who they must hate 

        I really don't think anybody needs to help you figure out who to hate. It is obvious.

        People don't want help promoting low skilled labor over American  labor.  

        You have your political parties mixed up. The Republican party and its corporate profit imperative have been driving wages down and shipping jobs overseas for decades. Your attempt at re-writing reality is pathetic.

        Why don't you go do something you are good at..?.

         

         

         

    2. PR

      Dean and Ellison may send the message you want to hear.  The problem is the message they will send will not expand the audience listening.  The task that is required is to send a message that people who left you want to hear so they will return.  Going with Dean or Ellison is like sticking with Pelosi, not what the Dems need to do if they want to grow.

      1. 'Expanded message'?  You mean to the majority of voters who didn't vote for your guy this time around?  A national election decided by 107,000 voters (pending final numbers from the WI, MI and PA recounts)? 

        Like the 1994 proclamations of Newt of a permanent Republican majority, this, too, shall pass. If Trump has a successful administration (I'm not dismissing that he can't) – it will be based on his embrace of policy antithetical to today's Republican party.  

      2. The problem is the message they will send will not expand the audience listening. 

        What the fuck would you know about listening? You and PP and pals are so caught up in personality politics as reality TV, you are really not expecting what is about to happen…because you have no more an idea than I or anyone else about how this will work out.

        As Michael points out above, Trump is talking down the alt-right, but keeping Bannon? ..his daughter is talking climate change just as some other billionaires (the family of John D. Rockefeller) blast Exxon/Mobil for lying for decades about their knowledge of the harm they are creating .

        The most amazing thing is your delusional notion that anyone in the Democratic party would be inclined to take your advice. But since you like to give advice, here is some for you. I think you should wait and see what President Trump does to your party, before you give a lot of thought to helping the Democrats.

        Trump cannot, his history indicates, be trusted to deliver on any promise. Stay tuned…

  2. PP doesn't understand the two major factors in the closing down of coal mines. Those are automation, which means fewer laborer type jobs. The other, and the bigger factor, is the free market at work. Natural gas is cheaper and burns cleaner, even before factoring in any government regulations.

    "for ruining the best health care……."  Based on my 25 years in a human services career, I'll take issue with your non-factual statement. It was the "best health care" for those who could afford it. I'm not a fan of Obamacare, for a number of reasons. But it has gotten over 12 million people nationally into health insurance. I can't count the number of people that I saw in my workload; the number is too high; who could have benefited from preventative care along the way, or counseling on smoking and alcohol use. But, they didn't have health insurance. Believe me, getting your care in the E.R. is far more expensive than occasional preventative care.

    1. You fail to recall that power plant conversion to natural gas has been going on for many years because of EPA regulations. The Goverment picked natural gas over coal, so much for the free market at a time when natural gas was more expensive. The fact that natural gas is less expensive now is because of the shale boom and fracking technology. CNG, LNG were promoted as the savior for the transportation industry, clean and less expensive than diesel. To bad for those fleets who chose the government winner, natural gas, diesel is once again the correct economic choice. 

      Why is it my employees who don't get subsidies, can only afford ACA plans with deductibles of 5 – 10 thousand dollars?

      None of this has reduced emergency room visits that you worry about.

       

       

      1. Perhaps you can account for the fact that public health organizations, such as the American Heart Association and American Lung Association, support the Clean Power Plan. Why is it that the coal industry fought for years against having scrubbers on their smokestacks? Do you recall all the acrimony about acid rain in the 1980s and '90s that originated primarily from coal-fired power plants? Perhaps you supported the coal industry back then even though their actions, or failure to act without being subjected to litigation, constituted "takings" of other peoples' property and health, if they had the misfortune to live downwind.

        Any regulations addressing those problems were, and are, most welcome. And perhaps you overlook the Supreme Court decision, from 2007 I think, that upheld the EPA's regulatory authority under the Clean Air Act (I am aware of the 2015 SCOTUS 5-4 decision regarding the Clean Power Plan). Did you take the time to comment upon EPA regulations during the public comment time period? Every proposed environmental regulation, you should know, has public comment periods under rules of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which, coincidentally, was signed into law by a Republican president (Nixon).

        I'm not "worried" about E.R. visits. I simply state a fact based upon my personal experience with thousands of Coloradans who appeared in my caseloads, most of whom were lower middle class or impoverished. I'm not aware of your personal situation, altho it appears that perhaps you do not provide employer-supported health insurance for your employees.

          1. Suggest that you stick to the topic at hand. We're not talking about historical wage & price controls, which were phased out decades ago anyway. Nixon’s accomplishments for the environment, however, remain with us today: NEPA, Endangered Species Act, among others.

          2. PP,

            Do you happen to recall what inflation was under Nixon? I'm old enough to recall, but you're either too young or too stupid to know. I imagine that if inflation hits 14% again all you Drumpfucks will be screaming for wage and price controls, no matter how ineffective they are. 

  3. PP and "climate change fraud……."  Perhaps PP needs to do some independent research.

    Here's a good web site to begin:    www.skepticalscience.com   .  The web site is subtitled:  "getting skeptical about global warming skepticism." 

    Myself, I follow the lead of former president Ronald Reagan in being a prudent conservative who takes steps. Reagan listened to the climate change skeptics of his day; like PP; and he listened to the science. President Reagan then signed the Montreal Protocols in 1987 calling for phasing out use of CFC chemicals that were damaging the ozone layer of the atmosphere.

    Here’s an older web site for PP and others to consider: http://www.climateconservative.org

      1. You can find Dr. Spencer under the list of "Climate Mis-informers" on the Skeptical Science web site that I cited earlier. That site provides rebuttals of his major points. 

          1. the fact that an occasional whore takes money from Big Coal to push its agenda doesn't mean the science is unsettled.   Hitler had "scientists" pushing his racial theories.   I am not sure whether you are too stupid to see the truth or too corrupt to accept it.   But holocaust deniers/climate deniers are not worthy of serious consideration. Let me guess, you don’t believe in evolution either. Six literal 24 hour days and we’re done, right, feeble brain?

            1. No Prune. It's not that "my Ph.D." is smarter than yours. And which Ph.D. of mine are you referring to? It's a matter that dozens of Ph.D.s are smarter than your one guy. At least Spencer has a doctorate in meteorology. Most of the individuals on the Climate Mis-informers list do not have degrees in the field, or worse, are political figures and opinion writers. 

  4. PP – if you can keep yourself still for 30 minutes you might enjoy this speech from by the Iron Lady in 1989. CHB – if you haven't seen this, it's informative and makes the case I've been frustrated with since I left the party: tackling climate change should be a conservative cause

     

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