You always need the right person for the job. Sometimes finding that right person is difficult.That is no exception when it comes to finding out who should lead national democrats. Having a good bench of candidates for the chair is just as important to having a good bench for any other elected office. Thankfully there is a good bench of candidates for Chair of the DNC.
It is a shame that Howard Dean removed himself from consideration. I believe he would have brought a lot to this race. Democrats either improved their results in the reddest states between 2005 and 2009 or, at worst, suffered only minor setbacks, which, given the obstacles the party faced in these solidly Republican states, was almost a victory in its own right. (1) I would have supported Former Governor Dean given his history.
First, there is Congressman Keith Ellison from Minnesota. Ellison has the support of Elizabeth Warren, Chuck Schumer, and Bernie Sanders. He is calling for a 3,007 county strategy. Ellison is progressive and is chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. He also has the endorsements of the AFL-CIO.
I like his idea that democrats have to go to the local level in order to build the party. Scott Walker and Tammy Baldwin were both in the State Assembly. Sean Duffy was appointed Ashland County District Attorney by a Governor who only served a half of a term. Investing in local races is really important. Do you know who is in your local town or school board?
Next there South Carolina Democratic State Chair Jamie Harrison. He thinks that democrats need to focus on " bread and butter" issues that effect people's lives. The downfall of Harrison is that he is a lobbyist for the Podesta Group. The other problem I have with Harrison is that he became chair in 2012. Since then we saw the re-election of Nikki Haley and Tim Scott and Lindsay Graham.
Then there is New Hampshire Democratic State Chair Raymond Buckley. “I think it is important that someone with actual party-building experience lead the party,” he said. “Look at Reince Priebus. What was his job before being RNC chair? He was the Wisconsin GOP chair.” (3) Building state parties his huge and Buckley has been chair since 2007. He has overseen the re-election of Jean Shaheen and two terms of Maggie Hassan. His only two losses were Kelly Ayotte in 2010 and Chris Sununu in 2016. New Hampshire Dems finally succeeded at defeating Ayotte in 2016 by a very narrow margin. However, I think letting Chris win was a strategic move because Governors only serve 2 years in New Hampshire and they go back and win it in 2018.
I think he has taken a Republican state and turned it around into a purple slash blue state,” said Neil Levesque, executive director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics and Political Library at Saint Anselm College. “When he started, Democrats were a joke. Now we have an all-female, all-Democratic delegation from New Hampshire and I would give Ray Buckley a lot of the credit for doing that. He is tireless. He sees the long-game and understands that this is about voters.” (3)
Ultimately I would be okay with Raymund as Chair given his electoral success and building a state party. However, he is sort of controversial but looks at who the republicans elected as president. Mr. Buckly like Ellison knows that you have to build the party from the bottom up.
The Final one is Tom Perez. The Labor Secretary in the Obama Administration This is a wild card for me because he was a keynote speaker at our Wisconsin Democratic State Convention this year. Even though our State Party Chair has endorsed Keith Ellison. I really liked Perez he has an accomplished career as a civil rights attorney. Perez also has served in local government.
Barring any other candidates jumping in. It comes down to Perez or Buckley for me. I like Ellison but I could see him really going far in Congress or even Governor of Minnesota. The only one I am totally against is Jamie Harrison for reasons I have said earlier.
1. www.chicagotribune.com/...
2. www.politico.com/...
3. www.washingtontimes.com/...