The Democratic National Committee, DNC, today elected former Labor Secretary under the Obama administration to the post of DNC chairman. Perez, seen by many in the party’s liberal base as the quintessence of corporatism and establishment, won the election by beating out Congressman Keith Ellison who was seen by many in the same base as a more unifying candidate for a party that is still in disarray as a fallout from the last presidential primaries, where the DNC was seen, by large parts of the liberal base, as having favored the eventual winner and party flag bearer Hillary Clinton over liberal champion and crowd favorite Senator Bernie Sanders.
Congressman Ellison was however elected deputy chair in what many see as an attempt to placate the liberals in the party, but whether that move will solve the problem is yet to be seen. It doesn’t look to be doing that given the reaction so far on social media where many disgruntled party faithful, like this youtuber, are venting their frustration with the outcome. All over social media, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube etc, disappointed Democrats are voicing their concerns and annoyance with the way the election has gone, with most expressing the view that a true liberal should have been elected given all that transpired recently between the liberal base and the corporate leadership of the party.
Tweets like this by Rich@8richard6, or this by Trump The Hill or this by Facebook post by Shannon O’Toole “WHY DOES EVERYONE UNDERSTAND THIS BUT THE dnc?” “Perez’s victory is another slight to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, which has yet to receive a single concession from Democratic leadership. Wall Street puppet Schumer was elected Senate Minority Leader and establishment ally Nancy Pelosi was elected House Minority Leader. Democratic leaders have resisted any push for reforms or insistence that the Democratic Party turn in a more progressive direction.”
It’s obvious that Perez’s election is seen as a huge slap in the face of the progressive wing of the party, so it’s left to be seen how things unfold going forward. There’s a lot of talk of leaving the Democratic party en-masse with #DemExit trending again on social media. The last time the hashtag trended was immediately after the Democratic party primaries, and the party nominee lost the presidential election shortly after.
It is no hidden secret that progressives feel that with the election of Perez, the Democratic Party is certain to prioritize the interests of Wall Street and wealthy donors, over fighting for and improving the lives of Americans who have been abandoned and betrayed time and time again. The DNC even voted to keep Wall Street and corporate funding of party candidates before the election. The only hope for progressives is in Sanders leading a new party, or taking a more proactive approach to shift the Party into a more progressive direction.
