Primary concerns show as Dems pick new leader
Former Labor chief beats out Bernie’s choice
Democrats tapped former Labor Secretary and Justice Department lawyer Tom Perez to rebuild the party after taking a beating from Republicans last year.
By a vote of 235 to 200, Democratic National Committee members chose Perez over liberal Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison in a leadership battle that pitted factions of the party against each other and threatened to reopen wounds from the presidential primary battle between Hillary Clinton and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“We are at this ‘ Where were you?’ moment in our nation’s history. They are going to study it alongside the Know Nothing movement. They are going to ask us, ‘Where were you in 2017 when we had the worst president in the history of the United States?’ ” Perez said. “We will all be able to say the united Democratic Party led the resistance, insured that this president was a one-term president and elected Democrats across the country.”
President Trump quickly tweeted his response, “Congratulations to Thomas Perez, who has just been named Chairman of the DNC. I could not be happier for him, or for the Republican Party!”
Perez, the first Latino head of the Democratic Party, was urged to run by President Obama and used his first act as chairman to name Ellison as deputy chairman in a show of unity. Ellison, who was backed by Bay State U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sanders, said the party needs to work together and “give everything you got to support” Perez.
“You love this country. You love all the people in it. You care about each and every one of them — urban, rural, suburban, all colors, all cultures, all faiths, everybody, and they are in need of your help,” Ellison said. “If we waste even a moment going at it over who supported who, we are not going to be standing up for those people.”
Among the tough tasks facing Perez will be choosing on which fronts to oppose Republicans and which to engage them, according to Jim Manley, a Democratic strategist and former colleague of Perez under the late Sen. Ted Kennedy.
“Given the threat that the Trump administration poses to core Democratic values, I think Tom has to think real hard about how they are going to try to oppose Republicans where they have to,” Manley told the Herald. “He learned from Sen. Kennedy the art of compromise, but I’m not sure with what’s going on there if there’s going to be much of that to be had in the coming year. I hope he’ll be prepared to fight, if need be.”
Sanders congratulated Perez on the victory and urged him to understand “that the same-old, same-old isn’t working and that we must bring in working and young people in a new way.”