Sanders backs first Muslim congressman for DNC chair
Vermont senator, who became closest Jewish politician ever to big-party presidential nomination, doesn’t rule out 2020 run
WASHINGTON (AP) — Bernie Sanders is leaving open the possibility of another presidential bid as shell-shocked liberals focus on helping the Democratic Party rebuild after Donald Trump’s victory. But he has stepped back into party politics with support for Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison as the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
“Four years is a long time from now,” said the 75-year-old Vermont independent, noting that he faces re-election to the Senate in 2018. But he added: “We’ll take one thing at a time, but I’m not ruling out anything.”
Democrats have begun post-election soul searching, with Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., urging the party to embrace a more populist economic message. As some Democrats protested across the country, the party’s liberal wing began jockeying for power, arguing that Clinton’s loss could be attributed to her reluctance to fully focus on economic inequality and tougher Wall Street regulations.
The sweeping Republican gains have thrown the future of the party into uncertainty, as Democrats process the scale of their losses and try to figure out the best way to come back in the 2018 elections. The Democratic National Committee may end up being ground zero for the fight, with no clear successor in line to replace interim chairwoman Donna Brazile. She is supposed to end her position early next year, and without a Democratic president to pick her successor, the committee will hold open elections for the post.
Warren and Sanders were articulating the frustrations among many liberals in the aftermath of Trump’s stunning triumph over Hillary Clinton. But their influence underscores another problem facing Democrats: Many of the party’s leading voices are senior citizens, older than their core constituencies of young and minority voters. Warren is 67.
Sanders said that millions of working-class voters’ decision to back Trump was “an embarrassment” to the party and Democrats must take a strong stand against the role of corporate interests in politics. He said the party as a whole was unable to make a strong enough case to struggling workers, particularly in the industrial Midwest, who sided with Trump.
“You cannot be a party which, on one hand, says we’re in favor of working people, we’re in favor of the needs of young people, but we don’t quite have the courage to take on Wall Street and the billionaire class. People do not believe that. You’ve got to decide which side you’re on.”
Warren said the election result showed that the American people were dissatisfied with politics are usual.
“The final results may have divided us — but the entire electorate embraced deep, fundamental reform of our economic system and our political system,” she told the AFL-CIO on Thursday. “Working families across this country are deeply frustrated about an economy and a government that doesn’t work for them.”
Warren laid out the principles she believes should govern Democrats during the Trump era: Standing up to bigotry, pushing for economic equality and combating the influence of Wall Street.
“We will fight back against attacks on Latinos, African Americans, women, Muslims, immigrants, disabled Americans — on anyone. Whether Donald Trump sits in a glass tower or sits in the White House, we will not give an inch on this, not now, not ever,” she said.
While Clinton pushed for greater financial regulation and higher taxes on the wealthy, she shied away from his more populist rhetoric. And she also largely ignored white working-class male voters in favor of trying to boost turnout among minority and female supporters.
The decision infuriated former president Bill Clinton who argued to campaign officials that they should pay greater attention to the voters who twice boosted her husband to office. During the long primary slog against Sanders, he insisted the campaign make stops in Wisconsin, which ended up being the last time either Clinton appeared in the state.
Wisconsin voted for Trump, shocking many in her campaign.
Former presidential hopeful Howard Dean also announced a bid to head up the Democratic Party, a post he held during the Bush administration, in the wake of Trump’s victory.
“The dems need organization and focus on the young,” Dean tweeted Thursday. “Need a fifty State strategy and tech rehab. I am in for chairman again.”
The dems need organization and focus on the young. Need a fifty State strategy and tech rehab. I am in for chairman again.
— Howard Dean (@GovHowardDean) November 10, 2016
The Vermont governor mounted an insurgent primary challenge in 2004, running on a more liberal platform than eventual nominee Sen. John Kerry. He served as Democratic National Committee chairman from 2005 to 2009.
Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley and Rep. Xavier Becerra of California are also rumored to be considering running for the position.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.
