President Obama did his part to stabilize the country after the 2008 meltdown. The Democratic Party needs a populist warrior free of establishment tethers to help build the framework to reconstitute the middle-class and to provide a ladder into the middle class for the poor. Representative Keith Ellison provides a much more credible path than Tom Perez.
If Democrats continue to choose the same people with vestiges of the same individuals into Democratic Party leadership, then the slide will continue. We can postulate that both Keith Ellison and Tom Perez are highly qualified for the job. There is no reason then to do an itemized pro/con in that respect.
It is clear that President Obama and the Democratic Party Establishment support Tom Perez. Terry McCauliffe, a Clinton protege, came out in support of him as well as several other establishment governors. In other words, Tom Perez is the Democratic Party Establishment candidate.
The problem is that the Establishment over the eight years of President Obama failed. America loves and believed in Obama enough to elect and re-elect him. However, he has little coattails. Obama talked to and reached people. Evidence indicate that the current Democratic Party Establishment is unable to do the same with the current leadership. Democrats lost over 1000 members of Congress throughout the states. Both chambers in half of the state legislatures are in total control of Republicans. Mitigating these realities require that Democrats choose someone with cred with grassroots organizers.
Grassroots organizers do not want more of the same. After Hillary Clinton’s electoral loss, a failure to win back the Senate in a favorable year, and a less than optimal seat pickup in the House, it is imperative that a drastic leadership change occurs.
Many will try to relive past Keith Ellison’s statement. The election of a man who most expected would be judged by the sum of his mistakes proved that what we thought disqualifying in the past no longer is.
The DNC Chair is local to the Democratic Party. It is the responsibility of the party to choose someone who will be fresh and ready to activate new voters and leaders to rebuild the party. To do that requires an energized grassroots. The Democratic grassroots must and is ready to move on. President Obama and Hillary Clinton moved the party forward nationally. It is time for new leaders to remake the party that best speak to the new economic and social realities. It is clear that the status quo is neither what Democrats, Republicans, or others are seeking. Keith Ellison is the leader the Democratic Party needs at this time.