DNC Party Meeting Leaves Progressives Furious over Purge

[lovemydogs]

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tom-perez-ousts-keith-ellison-loyalists_us_59ea6a44e4b0a484d0634a08?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

At the DNC Party Meeting Tom Perez purged top officials who backed Keith Ellison for Party Chair and Bernie Sanders in the Primaries.

“It’s a slap in the face to the activists in the party that are working so hard to make the party more responsive to the grassroots,” said Charles Chamberlain, executive director of Democracy for America, a digital grassroots group. “The idea that you’re going to purge Ellison supporters and bring the party together doesn’t make any sense at all.”

Becky Bond, founder of Knock Every Door and a veteran of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 Democratic presidential campaign, argued that the decision to remove Ellison surrogates puts Ellison, whom Perez brought on as deputy DNC chairman, in a “really hard place.”

Many activists feel Ellison is being ignored as well the voices of party activists themselves. Ellison's supporters lost spot on influential committees, many long time DNC officials. This included the first transgender member, Barbara Casbar.

Reformers hope that the party will accept a dramatically reduced role for superdelegates ― the party officials who can vote in presidential primaries independent of the will of the primary voters in their state ― as well make it easier for independents to participate in primaries and other party functions.

“I don’t know what the Rules Committee is going to do,” Bond said of their forthcoming assessment of the Unity Commission’s recommendations. “But I know that there are five Clinton-appointed Unity Commission members on the Rules Committee and no Bernie-appointed ones now that Perez has shaken it up.”

It looks like the hope for the party to become more inclusive and unifired, as well as more people centered and less influenced by neoliberal, center right, is not going to happen anytime soon.

[greeny2323]

1. People keep posting this crap

So much damn nonsense and lies.

[Jim Lane]

4. People keep posting legitimate grievances.

If you want to accuse DUers of posting lies, you might want to consider the possibility of perhaps backing up your charge. You know, with some facts.

One common response has been to echo the official DNC spin about Perez's 75 at-large appointments to the full DNC and how wonderfully diverse they are, while ignoring the more important complaint about his purge of the key committees. The OP linked to a HuffPo article but omitted its informative title: "Progressives’ Anger Over Key Committee Appointments Roils Democratic Party Meeting".

Note that the headline identifies the committee appointments as key. The OP quotes one Sanders supporter, Becky Bond, who points out the skewing of the Rules Committee. As a different article reports

Ellison supporters are also frustrated by the repeated switching of the conversation from the executive and rules committees, which have power and matter, to the at-large members, who have very little. “The DNC is spinning it as being about diversity and focusing on at-large, but we know the real power is with the committees, and the rules committee in particular, [which] determines rules for primaries and caucuses,” said Bond.

Many people who supported Keith Ellison for Chair believe that there's retaliation going on, and they're pointing to specific facts. Just saying "Lies! Divisive! Petty!" and the like isn't going to make the problem go away.

[elleng]

8. Thanks, Jim Lane.

[Initech]

10. I really can't help but wonder if this is part of Russia's plan.

Remeber - the goal is not to get people fighting with each other but fighting against their government. And it doesn't matter which side you're on.

[CentralMass]

16. Are they making Perez do this ?

[Me.]

2. What Is The Point

of posting this biased piece. And btw..Sanders supporters are in and Ellison is nominated for the executive committee along with many other positive considerations.

[emulatorloo]

3. Dem infighting is not about policy. It's about personality and everybody needs to chill.

We all agree on a core set of principles. Enough w the gossip, butthurt, and petty nonsense. And drop the neo-liberal smear because it's just dumb rhetoric. It's not true.

[betsuni]

5. When are they not furious?

[R B Garr]

12. Exactly! Bernie purged himself. Why aren't they pissed

at him?! This whole charade can't end soon enough. Divisive and destructive and very dishonest.

[Mediumsizedhand]

6. People are really working hard to create a false outrage here.

[Bradical79]

9. Why would you post something from Conova of all people?

Surely you can find someone better to post a response from. He's a conspiracy nut who tried to not so subtelty suggest that Seth Rich's murder could have been the work of Debbie Wasserman Shultz and the DNC.

[LittleBlue]

11. Antidemocratic crap like this depresses turnout

It's why we lost, and it's why we could lose again. Stop.

[Jim Lane]

14. Please clarify what depresses turnout

Is turnout depressed when the DNC and its officers act in a way that's unfair to a large segment of the party's natural base?

Or is such action perfectly innocuous by itself, and turnout is depressed only when someone truthfully reports what's going on?

Another way of putting it is to ask whether the way to encourage turnout is for the DNC to conduct its affairs more sensibly or for anyone who has any grievance to just STFU about it and pretend that everything is all right.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

13. There's never been a more important time for Democrats....

to support a unity of purpose, and one singular purpose at that. We all know that that objective is.

Right now, we need hot-button talking points and simplified policy positions that will help to swing millions of voters and get them off the couch. Get that out on TV, radio, billboards, placards and hand-outs until the public is notified of our way of doing business.

Everyone hears and respects your grievances but divisiveness is not the image we need to project to the American public or the international community at this time in history.

[CentralMass]

17. Talk to the DNC. They just created the issue.

[Tavarious Jackson]

15. If they go around bashing the party and

their purpose is to support and independent NOT a democrat, they need to be purged.