Fractured, frustrated Democrats to pick leader in Trump era

In this Sept. 29, 2014 file photo, then-Labor Secretary Tom Perez speaks in the South Court Auditorium in the White House compound in Washington. National Democrats will elect a new chair whose task is to steady a reeling party and capitalize on the widespread opposition to Republican President Donald Trump. Leading contenders in the Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017, vote are Perez and Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison. AP FILE PHOTO

WASHINGTON—US Democrats struggling to move on from their bitter election defeat last year will pick a new leader Saturday to take the fight to President Donald Trump and his Republicans.

With opposition Democrats preparing for crucial 2018 midterm elections and the nation’s next presidential race on the distant 2020 horizon, nothing less than the future of the party is at stake.

But while the battle over who chairs the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is a look toward the party’s future, some see it as a proxy battle between the supporters of two also-rans: the defeated Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her liberal primary rival Bernie Sanders.

It features front-runners Tom Perez, a Hispanic-American and former secretary of labor under Barack Obama who is the establishment pick; and Keith Ellison, the first Muslim ever elected to Congress, an African-American lawmaker from the party’s progressive wing who has left open the prospect of pushing to impeach Trump.

The race is narrowing — South Carolina Democratic Party chairman Jaime Harrison dropped out Thursday and supported Perez — and culminates in a vote Saturday at a DNC meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

During a debate with several DNC candidates Wednesday night, Perez and Ellison expressed similar views about how they would run the party.

They acknowledged that it needs to take a solid economic message to working-class and middle-class Americans, many of whom said during last year’s campaign that they felt abandoned by Democrats.

Perez, 55, said Democrats need to “get back to basics” by making house calls in all 50 states and establishing a year-round organizing presence to remind American workers that the Democratic Party represents their values and interests.

“When we lead with our message, our message of economic opportunity, that’s how we win,” he said during the debate broadcast on CNN.

Crisis of confidence

Perez also warned that Democrats must reform their party’s presidential primary system, which he said has created “a crisis of confidence” because of its lack of transparency.

And he and other candidates, well aware that Democrats lost ground to Republicans in state house and governor races, stressed the need to seed the party with new, young talent.

Ellison, 53, is the insurgent in the race.

He was a Sanders supporter during the Democratic primaries and — like Perez — has pledged to reclaim the party’s reputation of standing for fair trade, jobs, infrastructure investment and preservation of Social Security.

Trump “stole a Democratic message” by constantly reminding working-class and middle-class voters during the campaign that he was the candidate who listened to their concerns, Ellison said.

Trump no doubt is watching the DNC race closely. Earlier this week he tweeted about Ellison, saying “he was the one who predicted early that I would win!”

A dark horse has also emerged: Pete Buttigieg, the charismatic 35-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

He has earned support from former presidential candidate Martin O’Malley and Vermont ex-governor Howard Dean, himself a onetime presidential candidate and DNC chair.

“The wolf is through the gates and eating our sheep right now. We’ve got to take it to the real opposition, which is the Republicans,” Buttigieg said in the debate.

The falsehoods peddled by the Trump White House must be “met with fact and outrage,” he added. But at the same time, Democrats should “get back to talking to people and about people in terms of their everyday lives.”

On Friday, Clinton herself sent a message to the gathering Democrats, urging them to “keep fighting and keep the faith,” while staying focused on critical upcoming elections.

“The challenges we face as a party and a country are real,” she said in a video message.

“So now, more than ever, we need to stay engaged, in the field and online, reaching out to new voters, young people and everyone who wants a better, stronger, fairer America.”

Saturday’s winner needs a majority of the DNC’s 447 members. Should a candidate not secure a majority in the opening round, members vote again until a candidate emerges victorious.

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