the Anti-Defamation League and Israeli-American megadonor Haim Saban criticized past comments he made about Israel as unacceptable.
The election is tomorrow, right?
I donāt like his past comments about Israel; he displayed an appalling lack of history.
The Dems should stay clear of him. There are other qualified people without the baggage.
From what I could find online, his district, MN 5th Congressional, is D+22 so thereās little chance weād lose the seat to a Rethug. not to mention, Dems are in the minority in the House so thereās that.
āAt this point, the Democratic Party must be the party that delivers for working people,ā he wrote. āWe can do that by meeting folks where they are, looking them in the eye, treating them with respect, and working to solve their problems.
Yeah, the āresource raisingā will require him to go on the road and glad hand with a bunch of mega wealthy donors so weāre not really talking about sitting around the table with Joe Sixpack.
Howard Dean isnāt running.
If Ellison is struck from the list, then who is the next DNC chair?
Anybody but this train wreck who will be vilified for his religion too. It will always get in the way of the Dem party messaging. The GOP will hang it around his neck too. Not fair, but thatās reality.
I just went online to try to get an answer to your question and Iām still not sure. A couple of people are āthinking about itā (OāMalley) but I donāt know if theyāre actually committed to it or if theyāre just thinking out loud.
It would be good to have a list of whoās truly in it for the duration.
EDIT TO ADD: Sorry, I missed Illyse Hogue, Pres. of NARAL. She is seriously intersted in the position and supposedly has a platform ready. (Havenāt seen it.)
I am glad Mr. Ellison has offered to resign his Congressional seat to do this job. It really is a full-time position. We need someone who is bright, organized, committed. Keith Ellison comes highly recommended. I am fully aware how some on the right will play this, using Ellisonās ethnicity and religion ad cudgels. However, we have the numbers on our side ā this presidential election proved that. We donāt fill the position of running the DNC to please Republicans ā we fill the position with someone on our side who is dedicated to our principles, can reach out to our people, shake hands, speak with and to them, and to raise much-needed money and support.
I am ready to give Keith Ellison a try. Weāve needed a new direction and fresh faces in there for awhile now. Well, hereās our opportunity. I trust Mr. Ellison to do his best, and I trust Harry Reidās opinion of the man. Again, Iām willing to give Keith Ellison a shot at the position.
āā¦we fill the position with someone on our side who is dedicated to our principles, can reach out to our people, shake hands, speak with and to them,ā¦ā
I think we need to ask ourselves who would he be reaching out to. Iām not arguing with you because Iām strangely agnostic on this. Donāt have any really strong opinion on it. Considering the 40% of the country who didnāt see the need to vote in a presidential year, will he be able to motivate both our base to vote in the '18 midterms as well as speak to large part of the Midwest who arenāt interested in what he has to say? Ellison comes from a heavily Democratic area. Can he reach out to those who wouldnāt be inclined to vote for us? I donāt know.
Yes, he also defended Farrakhan, and has implied 9/11 was done by the government. Even if he says he was wrong to say thatā¦he said it.
Heās far more valuable in the House, let him stay there.
Truthfully, I was leaning toward Howard Dean. However, I was not really against Ellison. It seems not that many people are interested in the position. I honestly canāt say that I know exactly how he will reach out or what Ellison would say to those who were disinterested and to those who we believe are voting against their best interests. I am willing to give him a try, though. Heās a middle-aged man who seems to have a good grasp on our politics, the message of the Democratic Party. Heās not perfect and he seems to recognize some of his past statements were not received very well, including all those years ago his statements of support of Louis Farrakhan. I donāt get the impression Ellison is anything close to anti-Semitic. As a matter of fact, I think heās pretty close to where most Americans are regarding Israel and the settlements and the Palestiniansā need for a true homeland.
If he wasnāt capable, I doubt Harry Reid would have made the statements heās made. So, considering heās very likely capable, we need some fresh faces and better outreach, and no one else seems to be vying for the position, I say give him a chance.
Iām guessing her platform is "weeeeeeed . . . "
I agree; I donāt see the āantisemiticā thing either.
Regarding @answerfrogās query about implementing a 50 state strategy, I donāt see Ellison being received well in that regard. He comes from a district thatās heavily Dem and heās a progressive. He knows how to speak to the current Dem base. Can he recruit Dems from areas that are the antithesis of what he knows?
I would like Ellison to put forth a platform, what heās do in the position, how heād reach out to those we need to draw in and draw back in. The vast majority of us progressives are always committed ā itās the middle-of-the-roadsters we need to have a sit-down with and discuss their issues.
What is the āDemocratic National Contenderā?
āWhoever wins the DNC chair race faces a lot of work, travel, planning and resource raising,ā Ellison said in a statement. āI will be āall-inā to meet the challenge.ā
Having a full time DNC Chair is a must, and he gets it. Itās just logistically impossible to be a good Chair at the same time you have a job as a Congressman.
I have no dog in this hunt. However, the āconcernsā of DC groups/organizations that see their influence/status slipping away are not persuasive to me. ANY DEMOCRAT will be criticized! And Iām tired of the DNC being so DC-centric. I miss Howard Deanās 50 state strategy, and I remember āconcernsā back when he ran for Chair in 2005. In 2006 Democrats ran in areas previously ignored by the party as flyover country. So we had candidates in place to take advantage of the 2006 wave in areas nobody in the DC āconcernā circles had ever paid attention to.
According to Colin Powell, being a Muslim official shouldnāt matter in this country.
Good. I think the DNC Chair NEEDS to be a full time job. We certainly have not been doing a good job lately.
In 2006 Democrats ran in areas previously ignored by the party as flyover country. So we had candidates in place to take advantage of the 2006 wave in areas nobody in the DC āconcernā circles had ever paid attention to.
The chance of a āwaveā in '18 is slim to none. How exactly are you going to send a Black Muslim who has very little experience working in a Red state to encourage Dems to run for office, in a state thatās Red from top to bottom?
Maybe Iām reminiscing too much but that was exactly why I was hoping Dean would get the nod. I wouldnāt mind if Ellison got the chair and appointed Dean to be in charge of reimplementing the 50 state strategy if Dean would go for that.