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Rep Keith Ellison of Minnesota will hopefully be the new DNC chairperson

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IJoel

Member
I think Ellison is a terrific democrat, but we need someone fully dedicated to this. The stakes are way too high. And this is coming from someone in MN.
 
I think Ellison is a terrific democrat, but we need someone fully dedicated to this. The stakes are way too high. And this is coming from someone in MN.

Make Howard Dean and Keith Ellison co chairs.

We get great 50 state strategy and someone with experience and we have a progressive that other progressives can get behind.
 
Make Howard Dean and Keith Ellison co chairs.

We get great 50 state strategy and someone with experience and we have a progressive that other progressives can get behind.
Someone mentioned Ellison as Chair and Dean as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Chair? But it seems that DCCC person is focused only on the House. We need help not only in the House but the Senate, and also State/Local level races.
 
Jesus christ you clintonites didn't learn a damn thing from this election did you? We listened to your "Safer" bet on the election and look where that got us. Frankly, you guys have no footing trying to predict anything politically considering what happened.
 

faisal233

Member
Jesus christ you clintonites didn't learn a damn thing from this election did you? We listened to your "Safer" bet on the election and look where that got us. Frankly, you guys have no footing trying to predict anything politically considering what happened.

Lol. Dean is a Clintonites. You don't get to claim the party you just joined because of a loss.

No one listened to a plea for a safer bet. Sanders couldn't get the south in the primary and it cost him his bid. I voted for sanders in LA btw.
 
i don't think dean ever lost that fire. hell he specifically said he would do the job as recently as a week ago.

the guy was pushed out for really no good reason. i think he or someone who has good skills running an operation should fucking do the job.

i'm worried that if there is too charismatic a leader then it puts a target on the democratic party as a whole. get someone in there who can do the job of actually building up at the state level where those charismatic leaders might come from.
To be fair I don't think Ellison has much elsewhere to go.

He could run for Senate or governor in Minnesota, but that's making a very generous assumption about our state that "first Muslim senator/governor" wouldn't rally all the morons who elected Michele Bachmann and Jason Lewis.

And without either of those positions as a springboard, presidential run probably isn't in the cards.

Ellison is a solid hype man, has plenty of connections and has been running the progressive House caucus for like a decade. I think he'd be good although I do agree on some level with folks who'd prefer a full time chair.

I think also he just represents a solid shift in direction for the party. Even setting aside his endorsement of Bernie (because I don't think this should be a requirement, see how Dean is vilified lately) they're basically handing the keys to a liberal Muslim. That says a lot about where we're headed.
 

IJoel

Member
Jesus christ you clintonites didn't learn a damn thing from this election did you? We listened to your "Safer" bet on the election and look where that got us. Frankly, you guys have no footing trying to predict anything politically considering what happened.

I don't understand your point here. Ellison will be up for reelection in 2018, so he'll be busy. This position needs someone fully dedicated to increase the chances to take either congress chamber in 2018. That's just 2 years away.
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
I don't understand your point here. Ellison will be up for reelection in 2018, so he'll be busy. This position needs someone fully dedicated to increase the chances to take either congress chamber in 2018. That's just 2 years away.

Reality no longer has a liberal bias
 
D

Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member
This is what it must've felt like to be a Republican as the Tea Party slowly started encroaching and taking over

But it's good. If it works, the USA will have a pretty progressive party that actually gets shit done. But if it doesn't, the progressive agenda is doomed for years.
 
I don't understand your point here. Ellison will be up for reelection in 2018, so he'll be busy. This position needs someone fully dedicated to increase the chances to take either congress chamber in 2018. That's just 2 years away.
Really if you think about it, a year. Campaigns have to ramp up at least a year out I would think.

Well I'm not equating dems or the far left to the Republicans or the Tea Party in any way. I meant more as the radical end of the spectrum faction starts asserting dominance and taking over

Haha, yeah I know. I was just saying. Trying to find the positive here, I guess this loss at least exposed everyone in the worst way possible the massive structural issues of the DNC.
 

televator

Member
This is what it must've felt like to be a Republican as the Tea Party slowly started encroaching and taking over

Oh no, the party could raise up candidates like Ellison now. Look out, leaders like him could protect your civil rights, and promote income equality. The TEA party of the left ruining everything.

Well I'm not equating dems or the far left to the Republicans or the Tea Party in any way. I meant more as the radical end of the spectrum faction starts asserting dominance and taking over

Oh, okay, well that seems innocuous.
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
Oh no, the party could raise up candidates like Ellison now. Look out, leaders like him could protect your civil rights, and promote income equality. The TEA party of the left ruining everything.

This isn't about how good of a guy Ellison is. I lived in his district for five years. I love the guy. I think he's one of the single best politicians in the entire country. But there's reasonable skepticism about if he's right for this role, especially when he's being pushed so hard for the role by a lot of people who barely seem to know what the head of the DNC actually does

It seems like people really just want some new inspirational public figurehead and "head of DNC" sounds important
 

faisal233

Member
But it's good. If it works, the USA will have a pretty progressive party that actually gets shit done. But if it doesn't, the progressive agenda is doomed for years.

The tea party gave the conservatives something to rally around AND it also cost them a lot of seats when they primaried the pragmatic choice for the purist.

The tea party only worked because it was co-opted by the establishment. In races that the establishment candidate got primaried, they lost badly.

If Ellison is willing to do the job full time, and he explains his philosophy for red states like AL, KY, TN etc. Sure. Ellison is a progressive die hard, that's great. Is he capable of building the party that's going to require us running blue dog candidates? Is he willing to do that outreach?
 

Odrion

Banned
It seems like people really just want some new inspirational public figurehead and "head of DNC" sounds important
all the better!
Jesus christ you clintonites didn't learn a damn thing from this election did you? We listened to your "Safer" bet on the election and look where that got us. Frankly, you guys have no footing trying to predict anything politically considering what happened.
just say neoliberal
 

Chichikov

Member
Jesus christ you clintonites didn't learn a damn thing from this election did you? We listened to your "Safer" bet on the election and look where that got us. Frankly, you guys have no footing trying to predict anything politically considering what happened.
Look deep into your soul and tell me that you have a deeply informed opinion about who would do a better job at rebuilding the DNC and that you don't just look to re-draw the same old battle lines from the primaries.

I like Keith Ellison, but I would like to point out that I mostly know that he's DFL member (always a plus) a progressive, a muslim and black. I heard him talk a couple of times, I liked what I heard.
I liked Dean, I think he did a good job at the DNC, though I have a superficial knowledge at best of what he actually did there.

I have no vote in the DNC chair election so I don't think it's terribly urgent to measure the two, especially right now, and I'm sure as hell aren't looking to pick a fight with people who would stand side by side with resisting the garbage that is going to come down from Washington.
 
D

Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member
Look deep into your soul and tell me that you have a deeply informed opinion about who would do a better job at rebuilding the DNC and that you don't just look to re-draw the same old battle lines from the primaries.

I like Keith Ellison, but I would like to point out that I mostly know that he's DFL member (always a plus) a progressive, a muslim and black. I heard him talk a couple of times, I liked what I heard.
I liked Dean, I think he did a good job at the DNC, though I have a superficial knowledge at best of what he actually did there.

I have no vote in the DNC chair election so I don't think it's terribly urgent to measure the two, especially right now, and I'm sure as hell aren't looking to pick a fight with people who would stand side by side with resisting the garbage that is going to come down from Washington.

I gotta admit, this is me right now. Even if I say we should be pragmatic and hire the best one, I honestly don't know who will result in big wins for the Dems. I just hope that the voting will be improve the party's future, because it's bleak right now.
 

Blader

Member
This isn't about how good of a guy Ellison is. I lived in his district for five years. I love the guy. I think he's one of the single best politicians in the entire country. But there's reasonable skepticism about if he's right for this role, especially when he's being pushed so hard for the role by a lot of people who barely seem to know what the head of the DNC actually does

It seems like people really just want some new inspirational public figurehead and "head of DNC" sounds important

To be fair, he's also getting pushed by Reid and Schumer, who I would think/hope have a better idea of whether or not Ellison is the right man for the job.

Really, my main concern with Ellison is him only being a part-time chair. I would like to think that he and everyone else in the decision-making circle recognizes the dire straits the party is suddenly in (or rather, has been in for years now, but is made more obvious with Hillary's loss) and that the job deserves his full time and attention.
 

faisal233

Member
I want nothing more than Ellison's role in our party to be elevated. We need nothing more that to show the stark contrast between our parties and brietnart v. ellison puts our different visions of America in perspective. But DNC chair just to be in an elevated role is a bad choice.

The character assassination of Dean also bothers me a lot. He has always been a fire breathing liberal. One of the first ones to stand up to GWB on Iraq. Got his presidential bid killed because the media played up a stupid yelp. Then when to work building the party with a strategy everyone questioned and fought him on. After successfully building our party back up, he got unceremoniously fired because he was too abrasive and didn't play well with the insiders.

Did he go lobby, yes. But that was after being exiled by the entire democratic establishment. Obama wouldn't give him any role in the administration because of Rahm, when he was clearly a capable and successful person in our party. Being exiled by your own party that you built up and to get replaced by Kaine and DWS has to hurt.

Now he gets labeled as a establishment insider shill. Wow.
 
Can Ellison run an organization and get the right candidates running in their respective races? And can he do it as a part-time person?

Can anyone answer that? Or can anyone put out some more names than can in addition to him?
 

lupinko

Member
The Dems need to get their house in order quick because campaigning for 2018 started last week, and this isn't work for two years, more like one year.
 
I want nothing more than Ellison's role in our party to be elevated. We need nothing more that to show the stark contrast between our parties and brietnart v. ellison puts our different visions of America in perspective. But DNC chair just to be in an elevated role is a bad choice.

The character assassination of Dean also bothers me a lot. He has always been a fire breathing liberal. One of the first ones to stand up to GWB on Iraq. Got his presidential bid killed because the media played up a stupid yelp. Then when to work building the party with a strategy everyone questioned and fought him on. After successfully building our party back up, he got unceremoniously fired because he was too abrasive and didn't play well with the insiders.

Did he go lobby, yes. But that was after being exiled by the entire democratic establishment. Obama wouldn't give him any role in the administration because of Rahm, when he was clearly a capable and successful person in our party. Being exiled by your own party that you built up and to get replaced by Kaine and DWS has to hurt.

Now he gets labeled as a establishment insider shill. Wow.

I want to clarify once against that his campaign was already failing when the yell happened. He had just placed 3rd in Iowa and was looking to place that or worse in New Hampshire. He was already on the way down, the yell just capped it off.

Personally I loved him though. But he wasn't killed by the yell, it was just something that was latched onto.
 

Odrion

Banned
I want nothing more than Ellison's role in our party to be elevated. We need nothing more that to show the stark contrast between our parties and brietnart v. ellison puts our different visions of America in perspective. But DNC chair just to be in an elevated role is a bad choice.

The character assassination of Dean also bothers me a lot. He has always been a fire breathing liberal. One of the first ones to stand up to GWB on Iraq. Got his presidential bid killed because the media played up a stupid yelp. Then when to work building the party with a strategy everyone questioned and fought him on. After successfully building our party back up, he got unceremoniously fired because he was too abrasive and didn't play well with the insiders.

Did he go lobby, yes. But that was after being exiled by the entire democratic establishment. Obama wouldn't give him any role in the administration because of Rahm, when he was clearly a capable and successful person in our party. Being exiled by your own party that you built up and to get replaced by Kaine and DWS has to hurt.

Now he gets labeled as a establishment insider shill. Wow.

Dean stepped down two days after the election, he didn't get fired.
 

Odrion

Banned
hmm, after some very light researching:

Dean's tenure at the DNC has been marked by a sharp disconnect between the grassroots of the party and the operative class.

Grassroots -- and netroots -- activists, who propelled Dean's presidential bid and then helped get him elected as chair of the party in early 2004, love the former Vermont governor and credit his chairmanship of the DNC with the rebirth of Democrats as a national party. (Dean's pioneering accomplishment of his four years in office is the 50-state strategy, a plan that put staff and organizations on the ground in every state in the country.)

Dean was not as well received among members of the permanent political class in Washington, many of whom dismissed him as a lightweight -- particularly on the fundraising front.

Dean, at times, clashed publicly with Democratic elected officials over his stewardship of the DNC -- particularly newly installed White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. Of one particularly contentious meeting in the spring of 2006

Howard Dean will not seek a second term as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, ending a tenure marked by an aggressive attempt to reshape the mission of the committee – and to court support by the so-called Netroots – but also marked by frequent quarrels with Democratic leaders over his abilities and the direction he was taking the party.

i like the sound of that, if anybody has a article talking about his history with the HISS NEOLIBERAL ESTABLISHMENT HISS i'd like to see it. all i know is that pelosi and reid hated him and he didn't like emmanuel rahm
 

bachikarn

Member
People really should not dismiss what Dean did back in the day. He may have done work as a lobbyist but he is not part of the establishment.

Maybe Ellison can do just as well, but Dean has proven he can do it.
 

Odrion

Banned
It seemed like mostly Pelosi and Reid didn't like him for being grassroots, and he didn't like Emmanuel Rahm because he was a big baby.

It seems more like they didn't like one another because they're all assholes instead of it being Dean was trying to launch a socialist revolution

also the organization dean lobbied for are now involved with the trump administration, that's not a good look
 
This is what it must've felt like to be a Republican as the Tea Party slowly started encroaching and taking over

Probably. But on the plus side, Republicans have unprecedented control after that happened to them so you potentially have a lot to look forward to.

There is real benefit to being loud, visible, uncompromising, and aggressive. You laugh at the tea party because they've won everything going this route. It's worth taking some notes.
 

Maengun1

Member
1. Everything I know about Ellison is positive, but I have no idea how he'd do in the position of DNC chair

2. Dean has proven to have the capability to be an INCREDIBLY successful DNC chair

3. As I understand it, currently Dean could go full time and Ellison can't unless he resigns his house seat

Yeah?

Seems to me that both of them working together would be the best outcome here. But in any case, Dems really need to work together and put the "Corporate Shills vs. True Progressives" stuff to bed quickly. We're gonna need some luck to get through President Trump and that's even if we're completely united
 

gogosox82

Member
Ellison would be a great choice. I'd be lying if I said I'm not concerned about hearing Howard Dean's name. He became a lobbyist which frankly concerns me. He became the thing he used to fight against. Just not sure if I can trust him. Also, he's had the job before and while he did a good job, the issue is I want him to recruit new types of democrats and not definitely not neoliberals which is what I'm afraid he will recruit. I would just rather give Ellison a shot. When you get completely wiped out like this, you have to be willing try something new and not the same old stuff because the same old stuff is what got the dems in this mess in the first place and Dean represents the same old stuff to me.
 

Wall

Member
This isn't about how good of a guy Ellison is. I lived in his district for five years. I love the guy. I think he's one of the single best politicians in the entire country. But there's reasonable skepticism about if he's right for this role, especially when he's being pushed so hard for the role by a lot of people who barely seem to know what the head of the DNC actually does

It seems like people really just want some new inspirational public figurehead and "head of DNC" sounds important

Chuck Shumer and Elizabeth Warren don't know what the head of the DNC does?

Edit: Harry Reid backs Ellison too. I guess he is ignorant of the function of the DNC chair as well. Maybe GAF should write him to set him straight.
 
Ellison would be a great choice. I'd be lying if I said I'm not concerned about hearing Howard Dean's name. He became a lobbyist which frankly concerns me. He became the thing he used to fight against. Just not sure if I can trust him. Also, he's had the job before and while he did a good job, the issue is I want him to recruit new types of democrats and not definitely not neoliberals which is what I'm afraid he will recruit. I would just rather give Ellison a shot. When you get completely wiped out like this, you have to be willing try something new and not the same old stuff because the same old stuff is what got the dems in this mess in the first place and Dean represents the same old stuff to me.

But that's literally the opposite of the truth. The "old stuff", which was Dean's strategy wasn't what any chairperson afterwards did and that's why we got into this mess. They should've kept doing that old stuff
 
But that's literally the opposite of the truth. The "old stuff", which was Dean's strategy wasn't what any chairperson afterwards did and that's why we got into this mess. They should've kept doing that old stuff

Keith has said we must pursue a 50 state strategy.

If Keith steps down as Representative to be DNC chair full time, will that assuage fears?
 

Codeblue

Member
Ellison would be a great choice. I'd be lying if I said I'm not concerned about hearing Howard Dean's name. He became a lobbyist which frankly concerns me. He became the thing he used to fight against. Just not sure if I can trust him. Also, he's had the job before and while he did a good job, the issue is I want him to recruit new types of democrats and not definitely not neoliberals which is what I'm afraid he will recruit. I would just rather give Ellison a shot. When you get completely wiped out like this, you have to be willing try something new and not the same old stuff because the same old stuff is what got the dems in this mess in the first place and Dean represents the same old stuff to me.

To view it in a different lens, the party went to hell when they lost a full time chairman in Dean and went with part timers like Schultz and Kaine.

Maybe Dean shouldn't be chairman. Maybe we should have a progressive. Dean's experience should at least be leveraged as a resource though. And if we want a progressive, Ellison needs to resign or we need to find a fresh new face that can do this job day and night for the next four years, because God knows they have their work cut out for them.
 
Keith has said we must pursue a 50 state strategy.

If Keith steps down as Representative to be DNC chair full time, will that assuage fears?

Well, most of them. There's obviously the fear of going with someone new over someone who has a proven record, but him at least committing fulltime would get me over to him for the most part
 
We need a full timer and Dean is a proven winner. I like Ellison from the boys I've seen of him over time, but have no idea how well he would run a political party. Whoever they pick, I want Dean involved in some meaningful way.
 

gogosox82

Member
But that's literally the opposite of the truth. The "old stuff", which was Dean's strategy wasn't what any chairperson afterwards did and that's why we got into this mess. They should've kept doing that old stuff

What I mean by old stuff is faces. Ellison is already committed to a 50 state strategy. What he need is new faces and ideas to run the DNC instead of the same old people because they all lost in spectacular fashion so whatever they were doing wasn't working and they all need to go.

To view it in a different lens, the party went to hell when they lost a full time chairman in Dean and went with part timers like Schultz and Kaine.

Maybe Dean shouldn't be chairman. Maybe we should have a progressive. Dean's experience should at least be leveraged as a resource though. And if we want a progressive, Ellison needs to resign or we need to find a fresh new face that can do this job day and night for the next four years, because God knows they have their work cut out for them.

I expect Ellison to name someone to run the day to day decisions while he works in congress. Yes, it didn't work with Schutz being the part time DNC head but that is because Schutz is terrible and I don't think she really had a plan for getting anyone else besides herself re elected. I expect Ellison to have plans for the DNC that helps everyone, not just himself.
 
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