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OpEdNews Op Eds    H3'ed 2/19/17

What If Keith Ellison Loses or Wins DNC Race... Open Thread

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Keith Ellison
Keith Ellison
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Very soon, less than 450 Democratic insiders will decide who will be the next head of the DNC.

Bernie Sanders and most progressive groups have endorsed Keith Ellison. While he's not perfect, he's one of the most progressive elected Democrats in Washington.

Tom Perez is the candidate has to worry about the most. I've listed some endorsers below. I realize that many readers have already totally given up on the Democratic party. My position is that the US political system makes it impossible for a third party candidate to gain access to office. The way to win is to take back the Democratic party and that starts with a progressive leading the DNC. I realize Ellison is not perfect. But I've met him, I've followed him since he was a freshman member of congress and he's profoundly better than the other options.

My question for this open thread is about what happens if Ellison loses. Personally, I believe that will be the death knell for the Democratic party-- a repudiation of Berniecrats and the people under 40 who turned out my the millions to support Bernie. It will mean that the Republicans will further consolidate their control of the House and Senate in the 2018 elections.

If Ellison wins, I believe it could turn the tide, with the help of Cenk Uygur's Justice Democrats and the Wolf Pac, so incumbent neoliberal, corporatist Democrats are shown the door, to be replaced by progressives who actually care about constituents instead of corporations and wealthy donors.

If you've had it with the Dems, please comment on why and what you propose as a SOLUTION that has a chance of changing things in 2018.

Here are lists of who is endorsing Ellison and Perez according to Wikipedia,

According to Wikipedia Keith Ellison is Endorsed for DNC Chair By (actually, there was no such list on Wikipedia, so I added this list to Ellison's Wikipedia page. It will be interesting to see if the "non-biased" members of the Wikipedia community allow it to stay up.)

Leading Democratic Politicians[edit] Nationally known people[edit] Unions and other organizations[edit]

The KeithforDNC.org page lists many more endorsers.

Also note that right wing sites have gone a bit crazy attacking Ellison as DNC leader and many have emphasized that David Duke endorsed him. The way I see it, David Duke, endorsing a Democrat would endorse the Democrat he wanted to hurt the most. The way I see it, the right wingers would rather have a DNC leader who would continue the pathetically failing policies, positions and people who would set up the Democrats for continued failure in 2018 and beyond.


According to Wikipedia Tom Perez is Endorsed for DNC Chair By

  • United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.[163]
  • United Farmworkers.[164]
  • International Association of Firefighters [165][166]
  • The United Brotherhood of Carpenters [167]
  • The United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry [168]
  • International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers[169]
  • International Longshore and Warehouse Union [170]
  • Disability Leader Arl Ne'eman.[171]
  • Bilingual media company Univision[172]
  • BOLD PAC, the political arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.[173]
  • Kevin Levy Executive Editor The American Moderate[174]

Governors

  • Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper [175]
  • Connecticut Governor and Chair of Democratic Governors Association Dannel P. Malloy[176]
  • Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards [175]
  • Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf.[177]
  • Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo [175]
  • Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe [175]

Prior to serving as Governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe had been a fundraiser for the Democratic Party and served as Chair of the DNC from 2001 to 2005.[178]

  • Former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick [179]

Legislators and Elected Officials

  • U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (Maryland)[180]
  • U.S. Representative Steny Hoyer (Maryland) [181]
  • U.S. Representative Filemon Vela (Texas) [182]
  • Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigaan [183]
  • Texas State Senator Jose Rodriguez (El Paso)[182]
  • Texas State Representative Celina Vasquez (Austin)[182]
  • Wisconsin State Senator Janet Bewley (Ashland).[184]
  • Chicago Park District President Jessee Ruiz [185]
  • Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis [182]

Mayors

  • Current Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed [186]
  • Current Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti [187]
  • Former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter [188]
  • Former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin [189]
  • Former Trenton Mayor Douglas Palmer [188]
  • Former Houston Mayor Annise Parker[182]

Party Officials

  • Former Vice President Joe Biden [190]
  • Former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack [191]
  • Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder [192]
  • Former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius [193]
  • Georgia Democratic Chair Du Bose Porter [194]
  • Georgia Democratic Vice Chair Nikema William [195]
  • Illinois Democratic Party Chair Mike Madigan [196].
  • Kansas Democratic Party Chair Lee Kinch [197]
  • Kansas Democratic Party Vice Chair Kathryn Focke[198]
  • Maryland Democratic Party Chair Bruce D. Poole.[161]
  • Ohio Democratic Party Chair David Pepper [199]
  • Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chair Marcel Groen [200]
  • Tennessee DNC Member Will Cheek [201]
  • Tennessee DNC Member John Litz [202]
  • Tennessee DNC Member Bill Owen [203]
  • Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa [204]
  • DNC Member and former Obama Administration Official Rick C. Wade [205]

Colleagues

  • Roy L. Austin, Jr., Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, U.S Department of Justice Civil Rights Division [206]
  • William J. Baer, Former Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division [207]
  • Samuel Bagenstos, Former Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, U.S Department of Justice Civil Rights Division [208]
  • Donald J. Cazayoux, Former U.S. Attorney, Middle District of Louisiana [209]
  • Tristram J. Coffin, Former U.S. Attorney, District of Vermont [210]
  • Matthew Colangelo, Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division [211]
  • James M. Cole, Former Deputy Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice[212]
  • Stuart F. Delery, Former Acting Associate Attorney General U.S Department of Justice, Former Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice Civil Division[213]
  • Steven M. Dettlebach, Former U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Ohio[214]
  • Laura Duffy, Former U.S. Attorney, Southern District of California[215]
  • William Conner Eldridge, Jr., Former U.S. Attorney, Western District of Arkansas[216]
  • Robert Booth Goodwin II, Former U.S. Attorney, Southern District of West Virginia [217]
  • Jamie Gorelick,Former Deputy Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice [218]
  • Barry R. Grissom, Former U.S. Attorney, District of Kansas[219]
  • Javier M. Guzman, Former Deputy Associate Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice
  • Melinda Haag, Former U.S. Attorney, Northern District of California[220]
  • Kerry B. Harvey, Former U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Kentucky[221]
  • Timothy J. Heaphy, Former U.S. Attorney, Western District of Virginia[222]
  • David J. Hickton, Former U.S. Attorney, Western District of Pennsylvania[223]
  • Dwight Holton, Former U.S. Attorney, District of Oregon[224]
  • William J. Ihlenfeld, II, Former U.S. Attorney, Northern District of West Virginia[225]
  • Brendan Johnson, Former U.S. Attorney, District of South Dakota[226]
  • William C. Killian, Former U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Tennessee[227]
  • Loretta King, Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice[228]
  • Nicholas A. Klinefeldt, Former U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Iowa[229]
  • James A. Lewis, Former U.S. Attorney, Central District of Illinois[230]
  • Emily Loeb, Former Associate Counsel, Office of the White House Counsel[231]
  • Ronald C. Machen, Former U.S. Attorney, District of Columbia[232]
  • Pamela C. Marsh, Former U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Florida[233]
  • Jerry E. Martin, Former U.S. Attorney, Middle District of Tennessee[234]
  • Alejandro N. Mayorkas, Former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Former U.S. Attorney, Central District of California[235]
  • Bernard Melekian, Former Director, U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Community Oriented Policing Services[236]
  • Zane Memeger, Former U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Pennsylvania[237]
  • Matthew Miller, Former Director, U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs[238]
  • Michael Moore, Former U.S. Attorney, Middle District of Georgia[239]
  • Bill Nettles, Former U.S. Attorney, District of South Carolina[240]
  • David W. Ogden, Former Deputy Attorney General of the United States[241]
  • Matthew G. Olsen, Former Associate Deputy Attorney General for National Security, U.S. Department of Justice[242]
  • Carmen M. Ortiz, Former U.S. Attorney, District of Massachusetts[243]
  • Timothy Q. Purdon, Former U.S. Attorney, District of North Dakota[244]
  • Ripley Rand, Former U.S. Attorney, Middle District of North Carolina[245]
  • Leon Rodriguez, Former Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Former Chief of Staff, U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division[246]
  • Jocelyn Samuels, Former Acting Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division
  • Tracy Schmaler, Former Director, U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs[247]
  • Victoria Schultz, Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice
  • Anne M. Tompkins, Former U.S. Attorney, Western District of North Carolina[248]
  • Joyce Vance, Former U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Alabama[249]
  • Benjamin B. Wagner, Former U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of California[250]
  • John Walsh, Former U.S. Attorney, District of Colorado[251]
  • Ronald Weich, Former Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs, U.S. Department of Justice[252]
  • Stephen R. Wigginton, Former U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Illinois[253]
  • Stephanie Yonekura, Former Acting U.S. Attorney, Central District of California[254]

I couldn't find a larger list of endorsers on Perez's website.

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Rob Kall Social Media Pages: Facebook Page       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Rob Kall is an award winning journalist, inventor, software architect, connector and visionary. His work and his writing have been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, ABC, the HuffingtonPost, Success, Discover and other media.

Check out his platform at RobKall.com

He is the author of The Bottom-up Revolution; Mastering the Emerging World of Connectivity

He's given talks and workshops to Fortune 500 execs and national medical and psychological organizations, and pioneered first-of-their-kind conferences in Positive Psychology, Brain Science and Story. He hosts some of the world's smartest, most interesting and powerful people on his Bottom Up Radio Show, and founded and publishes one of the top Google- ranked progressive news and opinion sites, OpEdNews.com

more detailed bio:

Rob Kall has spent his adult life as an awakener and empowerer-- first in the field of biofeedback, inventing products, developing software and a music recording label, MuPsych, within the company he founded in 1978-- Futurehealth, and founding, organizing and running 3 conferences: Winter Brain, on Neurofeedback and consciousness, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology (a pioneer in the field of Positive Psychology, first presenting workshops on it in 1985) and Storycon Summit Meeting on the Art Science and Application of Story-- each the first of their kind. Then, when he found the process of raising people's consciousness and empowering them to take more control of their lives one person at a time was too slow, he founded Opednews.com-- which has been the top search result on Google for the terms liberal news and progressive opinion for several years. Rob began his Bottom-up Radio show, broadcast on WNJC 1360 AM to Metro Philly, also available on iTunes, covering the transition of our culture, business and world from predominantly Top-down (hierarchical, centralized, authoritarian, patriarchal, big) to bottom-up (egalitarian, local, interdependent, grassroots, archetypal feminine and small.) Recent long-term projects include a book, Bottom-up-- The Connection Revolution, (more...)
 

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