Democrats Might Want to Put Her in Charge

[ap215]

Walz endorses Minnesota Democratic chair as next DNC leader

Former vice presidential hopeful Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) is backing Ken Martin, the Democratic state party chair in Minnesota, in his bid to take the helm of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

“In Minnesota, Ken has built a national model for how to elect Democrats in a competitive state,” Walz said in a statement released through Martin’s team to The New York Times. “I have seen Ken’s leadership in action, and it’s exactly what we need from our next D.N.C. chair.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5 ... dnc-chair/

[ap215]

Progressive Leader Faiz Shakir Announces Late DNC Chair Bid

Faiz Shakir, a leading progressive strategist who managed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, announced a last-minute run for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee on Wednesday. The New York Times first reported his entry into the Feb. 1 contest.

Shakir, who also founded and runs a pro-labor video journalism project More Perfect Union, told the Times he is seeking the top party post to help the Democratic Party do a better job of connecting with working-class voters. In the wake of the November election, Shakir has been among the most prominent progressives to argue for the party to embrace an economic populism that identifies exploitative corporations and politicians tied to them as enemies of the working class.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/faiz-sha ... 1db4f81ac7

[ap215]

New York state senator drops DNC chair bid, backs Martin

New York state Sen. James Skoufis (D) ended his bid for Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair and backed Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chair Ken Martin for the post on Thursday.

In a statement, Skoufis said he was releasing his supporters and “urging” them to back Martin.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5 ... dnc-chair/

[ap215]

After major 2024 defeats, the Democratic Party searches for a new direction

DETROIT — The Democratic Party begins 2025 with several looming questions about its future.

Among them: how to recover from losing the White House and the Senate, in an election that saw Democrats lose ground across nearly every demographic group; who will lead its national party apparatus; and how it will handle President-elect Donald Trump's second term.

https://www.npr.org/2025/01/18/nx-s1-52 ... ture-trump

[ap215]

The Nation - How to Save the Democrats

Let’s not be naïve about the troubles plaguing the Democratic Party. The 2024 election was a kick in the teeth. Democrats lost the presidency and the Senate and failed in what should have been an easy bid to retake the House. Kamala Harris underperformed Joe Biden’s 2020 national popular vote by more than 6 million ballots, and most of the party’s bedrock constituencies saw shifts toward Donald Trump. Harris faced a starkly racist and sexist campaign from Trump. Yet the election also took down white male Democrats with records of staying afloat in turbulent times, including Senators Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, and Jon Tester of Montana.

The erosion of Democratic support in 2024 was notable among Latinos and, to a lesser extent, Black men. But it was especially profound among younger, nonunionized working-class voters of all races and ethnicities. “It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them,” Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said in a statement after the election. Former Democratic National Committee member Nina Turner was blunter: “The Democratic Party has…a problem with a class of people, from elected officials to consultants, who care more about their careers than actually delivering for people.”

https://www.thenation.com/article/polit ... democrats/

[ap215]

Democrats nonplussed by their prospects want ‘political exorcism’

Democrats are down in the dumps this inauguration weekend, and their hopes are not being lifted when they look at their prospects for winning back the White House in 2028.

As President-elect Trump prepares to enter the Oval Office for a second time, plenty of Democrats looking at a potential field that includes Vice President Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer give this answer when asked who they think can put the party back on top: None of the above.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5 ... andidates/

[ZoWie]

Nothing's wrong with the Democratic Party that couldn't be improved by its connecting with its real constituency again. If it continues to be Republican Lite, activist Democrats might not bother to vote, and the traditional coalition of grass roots middle class groups will continue to defect to the real thing.

Seriously, no more rich broads from Brentwood, OK? I realize that Biden was forced to step down by an inspired media campaign by the other side, but that's the whole point. The Democrats need to figure out a way to get their own inspired media campaigns out there.

Biden's farewell address should be the next Democratic platform. It's time to get back to fundamentals.

[ap215]

Ken Martin says he has 200 endorsements from DNC members

Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chair Ken Martin said Tuesday his bid for Democratic National Committee chair has received 200 endorsements from DNC members.

The number of endorsements for Martin are significant given there are roughly 450 voting DNC members, making Martin a front-runner.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5 ... th-martin/

[ap215]

7 governors back Ben Wikler for DNC chair: Exclusive

Seven sitting governors are throwing their support behind Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler's run for Democratic National Committee chair. Four of them are eligible to vote in the party's officer elections.

In endorsements first shared with ABC News, Govs. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Tina Kotek of Oregon, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Laura Kelly of Kansas, Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, Maura Healey of Massachusetts, and Janet Mills of Maine lauded Wikler as an experienced organizer and unifier. Kelly, Beshear, Lujan Grisham and Whitmer are among the 448 DNC members who can vote for chairperson next week on Feb. 1.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/7-gover ... =118016949

[ap215]

O’Malley demands opponents release donor lists in DNC chair race

Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is releasing the names of his donors to his Democratic National Committee campaign — an effort to pressure his opponents to reveal their own financial backers ahead of the Feb. 1 election.

O’Malley’s list, shared first with POLITICO, shows more than 350 people who had donated to his campaign, totaling about $350,000, and his spokesperson called on the other DNC chair candidates to “do the same” by Saturday.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/2 ... air%20race

[ap215]

Tabitha Speaks Politics - Introducing Jason Paul, A Candidate For DNC Chair From Massachusetts. Jason Slays News Media

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Sxvr9lCXfI

[Motor City]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXzdYZFULOU

Marianne Williamson Wants to Lead the Democrats’ Post-Trump Comeback

THE STORM HAS BEGUN

An unnatural disaster is upon us

I understand why people would be silent right now. In a country that’s so divided, you run a risk in even saying what’s true. Two days ago a TV weather reporter lost her job because on her X account she tweeted about Elon Musk’s salute. People have to make a living, and there’s a lot less risk just keeping our mouths shut.

What’s happening now is not within the normal range of political opposition. President Trump is neither a high minded conservative nor a normal Republican. Everything we’ve ever learned about dictators and fascism, and most importantly the role of silence and acquiescence in allowing their rise, is relevant right now. From rolling back Civil Rights protections to halting needed health functions to mass deportations to withdrawing from any allegiance to climate protection and revving up support for Big Oil, he’s on a roll.

Mass deportations having begun, I think of things that could be happening right now. Prohibition against ICE raids at “sensitive spaces” such as schools and churches have been removed, and while border czar Tom Homan says their first target is violent criminals (few have a problem with violent criminals being deported), it’s anyone’s guess who they’ll get to next. Most Americans seem to have little understanding how many are forced to live in the shadows by our own immigration laws. How many will now be hunted down, with no legal protections? My heart breaks for children who are traumatized by all this. We are inflicting damage on innocent people in ways for which there is no excuse......

more at link

[ap215]

Adam Conover - The Secret Reason the Dems Keep Losing

https://youtu.be/NKgNrshVdMw?si=Zlk_UNKXUhoDXqIi

[ZoWie]

This guy is right. People got lazy.

We need a real movement which talks to people on their level. What are they pissed about? Do they really care about the oligarchy? If not, what do they care about? Try asking them nicely, person to person, dinner chatter, engagement, web sites, for shit's sake TALK TO PEOPLE ONE ON ONE.

The Democratic Party loses because it has no real content... it just says vote for us and the bad guys won't keep changing everything... but then everything changes anyway because the processes are never addressed... the roots don't get engaged... there's no talking to real people one on one about real stuff that's bugging just about everybody.

Totally dysfunctional tax system, rigged by and for the rich, who have a scandalous amount of money they'll never be able to spend? Nothing.

Catastrophic climate change causing mega-disasters on a monthly basis? Nothing. Oh, some jargon, but nothing of substance beyond tsk tsk you consume too much. That doesn't convert anybody. They want salvation.

Totally corrupt Federal judiciary? Nothing.

We get vague shit about the price of eggs. If that's really the problem, then why didn't the Republicans subsidize eggs on day one? Because that's not the problem. It's obvious that exploitation and class struggle and fearmongering and scapegoating are no longer in the political vocabulary.

We get exit polls. People, that's not an accurate sample of anything. If 1/3 of Democrats really didn't vote, then they weren't exiting, now were they? And what about the vast number of people who vote by mail because it's a billion times more convenient?

We need a movement, but it has to come from bottom up. It has to be a massive generational FUCK YOU like the 60s. Only this time, maybe do something about it besides getting stoned.

And for shit's sake no more women in pants suits from the Hamptons or Brentwood. They're fine for city council or board of education, but the President of the United States is different. Voters want a messiah, not someone who gives great dinner parties in some mansion. Not the way I'd like it, but sometimes the truth hurts.

[ap215]

It's time for some new voices to get things done.

Democratic governors urge Schumer to fight back harder against Trump

A group of six Democratic governors took part in a reportedly tense phone call Wednesday night with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., urging him and members of his caucus to fight more aggressively against President Donald Trump's nominees and legislation, The New York Times reported.

Schumer, with help from Govs. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Laura Kelly of Kansas, convened the call to discuss a unified response to Trump's executive order to suspend federal grants. But two participants and five other people briefed in the conversation told the Times that the conversation quickly moved on to the broader question of how to stop the president from enacting his agenda through Congress.

https://www.salon.com/2025/01/30/democr ... brief=true

[ZoWie]

Were there a reliable Democratic voting base, the congress critters wouldn't be so afraid to spit into the wind.