Since a previous diarist failed to provide links to the DNC reshuffling/purge. I thought I would do so.
The DNC chairman Perez has also decided that putting some corporate lobbyist in the positions of superdelegates is a great idea.
Nothing like going back to your corporatist ways in order to lose more elections. This is part of the reason why Independents do not trust Democrats any more than they trust Republicans.
Below are a couple links with some quotes from each:
Democrats Plan to Name Lobbyists, Operatives Superdelegates
www.bloomberg.com/…
“The Democratic Party this week plans to name 75 people including lobbyists and political operatives to leadership posts that come with superdelegate votes at its next presidential convention, potentially aggravating old intraparty tensions as it struggles to confront President Donald Trump.
The new members-at-large of the Democratic National Committee will vote on party rules and in 2020 will be convention delegates free to vote for a primary candidate of their choice. They include lobbyists for Venezuela’s national petroleum company and for Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., according to a list obtained by Bloomberg News. At least three of the people worked for either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders in 2016 while also casting ballots as superdelegates.”
“One of the lobbyists is Joanne Dowdell, who’s registered as a federal lobbyist for News Corp., where she’s senior vice president for global government affairs. Dowdell ran for New Hampshire’s House seat as a Democrat in 2012 and is a party donor.
Two other lobbyists who disclosed corporate clients in their most recent public reports are Clinton White House veteran Harold Ickes and Manuel Ortiz. Ortiz’s clients this year include CITGO Petroleum Corp, owned by the Venezuelan government, and Citigroup Management Corp. Ortiz also lobbies for Puerto Rican interests.
The three lobbyists didn’t respond to requests for comment.”
DEMOCRATIC PARTY DRAMA PUTS DEPUTY CHAIR KEITH ELLISON IN A TOUGH SPOT
theintercept.com/…
“The public response from Perez to complaints from Ellison backers has only exacerbated the tensions, as Perez, like Hinojosa, has insisted that the changes were made only for the sake of “diversity.”
One paragraph in an NBC News story on the dustup was almost a parody of the tactic of cloaking ideological or political moves in liberal rhetoric about identity:
The DNC denied any retaliation, saying that the changes were an effort to diversify and freshen the party’s leadership and that all the party’s officers had a chance to offer input. They touted new additions like Marisa Richmond, a millennial black transgender activist, and the first Dreamer member, Ellie Perez, to point to the DNC’s efforts at diversity.
In fact, the DNC went overboard in its box-checking: It’s a stretch to call Richmond a millennial; she’s 58 years old and has been an activist longer than many millennials have been alive.”
“The fight grew more personal Friday morning, when BuzzFeed reported on rumors circulating that pro-Ellison forces were trying to take three black women — Donna Brazile, Minyon Moore, and Leah Daughtry — off of the at-large committee.”
Shake-Up at Democratic National Committee, Longtime Officials Ousted
www.nbcnews.com/…
“The removal and demotion of a handful of veteran operatives stood out, as did what critics charge is the over-representation of Clinton-backed members on the Rules and Bylaws Committee, which helps set the terms for the party's presidential primary, though other Sanders and Ellison backers remain represented.
Those who have been pushed out include:
- Ray Buckley, the New Hampshire Democratic chairman and longtime DNC official who ran against Perez for chair before backing Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn. Buckley lost his spots on the Executive Committee and DNC Rules Committee.
- James Zogby, the president of the Arab American Institute and prominent Sanders backer, is no longer co-chair of the Resolutions Committee and is off the Executive Committee, a spot he has held since 2001.
- Alice Germond, the party’s longtime former secretary and a vocal Ellison backer, who was removed from her at-large appointment to the DNC.
- Barbra Casbar Siperstein, who supported Ellison and Buckley, was tossed from the Executive Committee.”