The new direction for the Democratic Party, as stated by the new national Chair and Deputy Chair, clearly underlines the importance of local organizations like the Democratic Party of Seminole County. It also underlines the importance of the cooperation and involvement of individuals from across the spectrum of Democratic opinion.
Former Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez was elected chairman at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) meeting on Feb 25th in Atlanta, narrowly defeating Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota, who was immediately named Deputy Chair.
Perez was widely viewed as the candidate of the establishment Democrats, with endorsements from former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Ellison was primarily lifted by the liberal supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders.
Directly addressing his disappointed supporters after the vote, Ellison told them “We don’t have the luxury to walk out of this room divided.”
In his victory speech, Perez cited what he called “‘the robust discussions in the Democratic Party” and in a joint news conference with Ellison, Perez vowed to shift the committee from its focus on presidential elections. “We’re the committee that helps to ensure we’re electing people up and down the Democratic ticket,” he said. “By getting back to basics, we can turn the Democratic Party around, take the fight to Donald Trump, and win elections from school board to the Senate.”
In an e-mail to the SemDems, Ellison repeated his call for unity, “We must be united – because we live in times when the judiciary is under attack, when the press is under attack, and hate groups are desecrating Jewish cemeteries and defacing mosques.”
“With Trump in the White House, at stake is the very essence of our democracy, and I want us to be able to look back at this moment and tell ourselves that we did the right thing and helped Tom succeed,” he wrote.
Florida Democratic Party Chair Stephen Bittel picked up on the local effort theme in a statement released after the vote: “The Democratic Party has strong new leaders in Chair Tom Perez and Deputy Chair Keith Ellison, and we look forward to working with them to rebuild our party from the grassroots up. As Democrats, we fight for Florida families and support elected leaders who embrace the core Democratic values of building an economy that works for all of us, protecting the civil rights of all Americans, and ensuring that education and healthcare are rights, not privileges.”
The leadership has set forth the challenge. How well it is met is now largely up to the response of the hundreds of newly inspired rank and file Democrats who have been turning out for rallies, demonstrations and SemDem meetings since the election.