Amid the wreckage of Hillary Clinton’s loss, Democrats have started jockeying for control of the national party – and vigorously debating a dramatic course correction in response to Donald Trump’s election.
The upcoming choice of a new Democratic National Committee chairman could become an early proxy fight between the establishment wing of the party, embodied by Clinton, and its more liberal members, many of them aligned with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the party’s runner-up in the Democratic primaries.
Sanders and other liberal lawmakers and advocacy groups argue that the DNC needs to be reimagined as less of an insider’s club focused on raising money and more of an advocate for the working-class voters won over by the Republican nominee on Tuesday.
With Clinton’s loss, the DNC chairman is certain to become a more visible face of the Democratic Party, and the contest to replace interim chairwoman Donna Brazile now appears a wide-open affair. Brazile stepped in for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who announced her resignation in July following the release of a trove of hacked emails that suggested the DNC was aiding Clinton over Sanders in the primaries.
Had Clinton won on Tuesday, she would have been expected to name a political ally as DNC successor.
The candidate garnering the most early attention is Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., a co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, a favorite of liberal advocacy groups and a Muslim – a fact, his supporters argue, that would send a strong signal about the party’s diversity during Trump’s tenure.
Support for Ellison has extended beyond his liberal base; already backed by Sanders, he won the endorsement Friday of Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., who is expected to be the next Senate minority leader.
Ellison plans to announce his bid for the chairmanship on Monday.
Sanders said he believes a DNC “preoccupied” with raising large sums of money from wealthy donors was partly responsible for Tuesday’s loss.
“You can’t tell working people you’re on their side while at the same time you’re raising money from Wall Street and the billionaire class,” Sanders said. “The Democratic Party has to be focused on grass-roots America and not wealthy people attending cocktail parties.”
Sanders acknowledged the need for the party to continue its function as a fundraising vehicle but suggested a model akin to his presidential campaign, which raised much of its money from small-dollar donors.
“Millions of people are willing to put in 20 bucks, 30 bucks, 50 bucks if there’s a party to believe in.”
His views have been echoed by several liberal groups that are supportive of Ellison.
“The Democratic establishment had their chance with this election,” said Stephanie Taylor, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “It’s time for new leadership of the Democratic Party – younger, more diverse and more ideological – that is hungry to do things differently, like leading a movement instead of dragging people to the polls.”
Those more closely aligned with Clinton are cautioning against overreacting to an election in which she appears to have won the popular vote. Among at least eight hopefuls for chairman who have emerged, still others are billing themselves as a unifying force between Clinton and Sanders supporters.
Those include former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley, who on Friday said he is taking a “hard look” at seeking the chairmanship. O’Malley, who ended his presidential bid after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses, said he believes he was the second choice of many Sanders supporters and said he has been encouraged to seek the DNC role by many Clinton supporters.
“That puts me in a unique position right now to bridge that divide,” said O’Malley, who previously headed the Democratic Governors Association. “We need to come together. We need to start acting like a party again.”
At least four of the party chairmen hopefuls are Latino, a sign of that demographic’s growing clout within the party.
During a conference call Thursday with members of the liberal advocacy group Democracy for America, Ellison said the party needs to become more of a presence in local communities across the country.
He argued that television advertising and sophisticated data analysis of voter behavior is no substitute “for getting Dems together around a pot of chili and getting to know them.”
Already, Ellison has come under fire from some Democrats who argue that their party needs a full-time chairman and that continuing to serve in Congress would make that impossible.
Former Vermont governor Howard Dean, who served as DNC chairman a decade ago, announced plans to try to regain the position and made the case for a full-time role.
“Look, I like Keith Ellison a lot,” Dean said during a Friday appearance on MSNBC. “He’s a very good guy. There’s one problem: you cannot do this job and sit in a political office at the same time. It’s not possible.”
That view was echoed Friday by longtime Democratic operative Harold Ickes, who said: “I do think there’s a very strong argument for a full-time DNC chair, especially for a party out of power.”
Henry Munoz III, the DNC’s national finance chairman who helped Clinton collect millions for her campaign, said Friday that he is considering a bid for party chairman but is also in touch with other Hispanic leaders about ensuring that the DNC more properly represents Latino concerns going forward.
“The one thing that is abundantly clear is that the Latino community held up their end of the bargain,” Munoz said. “We did deliver on our promise.”
Hispanics accounted for at least 11 percent of all voters on Election Day, according to national exit polls – a 1 percent increase from the 2012 presidential election.
Munoz said Latino participation would have been even higher if the party had been more attuned to their concerns in the last four years.
In addition to Munoz, outgoing Labor Secretary Tom Perez, Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., are said to be considering a run for chairman. Muñoz confirmed he’s in touch with all of them.
Based on the wide interest, “I expect our perspective will be presented up front in the talks about the DNC going forward,” he said.
“I think we’re a long way from making a pick,” he added.
Gallego, a 36-year old former U.S. Marine corporal who represents most of the Phoenix area, is popular with younger congressional Democrats and is seen as a rising figure in a new generation of Democratic leaders. Becerra, an avid campaigner for Clinton, is said to be considering the job now that he won’t have an opportunity to serve in her Cabinet, as expected.
Another potential contender eyeing the race is Jamie Harrison, the current chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party. Harrison said that the next DNC chairman should focus far more on helping build the state parties across the country, including his.
“There’s no party-building that’s taking place,” he said. “It becomes incredibly difficult to recruit candidates.”
Jason Kander, who lost the Senate race in Missouri to Roy Blunt on Tuesday, is also considering a run for chairman, according to people close to him.
Some longtime Democrats say the race has probably gotten off to a premature start – particularly at a time when the party is still mourning Clinton’s loss.
Former national chairman Don Fowler, a fixture in South Carolina, said: “I think it’s somewhat ill-advised for people to get in and try to do all of this during a funeral.”
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