The Democratic Party faces existential questions after Donald Trump’s resounding victory. One of the first: Who will lead it? Democratic National Committee chairman Jaime Harrison is not expected to seek a second term, opening a job that must be filled by March 1, according to the party’s bylaws. Who takes the position will speak volumes about how the party wants to present itself going forward and what issues members believe hampered Democrats against Trump in 2024. The incoming chair will also oversee the party’s 2028 nominating process, a complex and contentious exercise that will make that person central to the next presidential election. Harrison was derided for having backed President Joe Biden even as many Democratic voters questioned whether the president should run again. He was accused after Biden’s disastrous debate performance of pushing for a virtual roll call before Biden chose to withdraw.
The early debate over Harrison’s replacement appears to be set on a clear dividing line: Do Democrats need an operative with clear skills and experience in reshaping the party’s infrastructure? Or does the party need a communicator who can respond to everything the Trump administration plans to do and can sell Democratic ideas to a public that rejected them at the ballot box? In the wake of Tuesday’s thrashing, there is a sense, at least among some of the DNC’s rank-and-file, that the committee’s 440-plus voting members may be more likely to embrace an outsider with strong ties to the party’s formal establishment. Some also would want the new chair to fill a full-time role, which would present challenges to a current officeholder. “As the party looks to the future, we must be positioned for the important work of unifying and strengthening Democrats at all levels, and holding Trump’s Republican Party accountable for the harms it will inflict on the American people,” said Rosemary Boeglin, a spokesperson for the committee. “In the coming weeks, we will lay out a process for electing a new Chair to guide us on that path forward.”
The more high-profile leaders on the minds of multiple top Democrats include Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, former Georgia lawmaker Stacey Abrams, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg; and Martin O’Malley, the former Maryland governor and current commissioner of the Social Security Administration.
https://apnews.com/article/democratic-n ... 47b7f0e39eO’Rourke, said a person familiar with his thinking but granted anonymity to speak openly, is being asked to run by donors and operatives. Beshear, a 46-year-old two-term Democratic governor in a state Trump twice carried by more than 25 points, has no interest in the chairmanship, according to a person close to him granted anonymity to share internal discussions. Buttigieg, who unsuccessfully ran for chair in 2017, is not exploring a run, said a person close to the secretary granted anonymity to speak openly about his thinking. And a source close to Abrams, granted anonymity to speak openly, said she was not interested in becoming chair. Martin, who reached out to every state party chair, vice chair and executive director the day before the election, began a new round of temperature-taking phone calls on Friday.
We'll see how much the DNC listens to Bernie who is technically an Independent, not a Democrat. However he votes with Democrats in the US Senate along with Independent Sen Angus King of Maine.
