It’s been a rough week for all of us. It has been especially rough for the Democratic Party, who can only describe this election cycle as a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. Now that the dust is settling, the party is looking to make changes, and after the debacle involving WikiLeaks and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, new leadership is needed. Keith Ellison just might be the man for the job.
Ellison is a Congressman representing Minnesota, and he’s exactly what Trump and GOP should fear in a potential DNC Chairman. He’s a five-term representative, so he has experience. He’s a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and sits on the Financial Services Committee. Ellison is also the first Muslim to be elected to the House of Representatives.
He would be the most progressive DNC Chairman the party has seen in decades.
And big names in the Democratic Party are already on board. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), has endorsed Ellison, as has Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), among many others. He recently added Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid to that list. In a statement released on Sunday, Reid said:
“My friend Keith Ellison is a terrific leader and a strong progressive who knows how to get things done. Now is the time for new thinking and a fresh start at the DNC. Now is the time for Keith.”
As of Monday, Ellison is officially in the race for the head DNC job. The election process is complicated and will take time, but Ellison’s support from fellow party members indicates a strong desire to move towards a much more progressive Democratic platform, in the style of Bernie Sanders, to help connect with American voters on a deeper level.
Keith Ellison seems like a perfect candidate for the job, then. In a recent television appearance, he recognized the need for a more populist Democratic party:
“You’ve got to have a vision to strengthen the grass-roots… Make the voters first, not the donors first. I love the donors and we thank them, but it has to be that the guys in the barbershop, the lady at the diner, the folks who are worried about their plant is going to close ― they’ve got to be our focus.”
Hopefully Ellison will be the spark the Democratic Party needs.
Watch this interview with Keith Ellison on ABC, where he outlines the changes he wants to see in the party:
Featured Image via screenshot from YouTube video
