Blue Election Day
A deeper dive into tomorrow's DNC Chair election
Twice over the past six weeks, I have commented on the significance of the Democratic party’s leadership elections as a pivot point that will decide how the party adapts after losing the White House in 2024. Given the urgency to regroup quickly so as not to fall too far behind the Trump wrecking ball, it is with some relief that election day has finally arrived.
It is also encouraging to see that the leading candidates for DNC chair seem to understand where the party is strong and where it struggles to compete with Republicans. This is essential if Democrats are going to avoid overcorrecting, under-correcting, or correcting things that should not be top priorities.
Two weeks ago, I spoke about some of the key points of agreement among the candidates who participated in a string of candidate forums. But to date, I haven’t said much about the candidates themselves because unless you’re a party member, you and I don’t have a vote in the election. The winner will be decided at the DNC’s Winter Meeting tomorrow by a majority of only 448 voting members.
On the eve of the election, three of nine candidates have enough declared support to be considered frontrunners. Since one of the three is likely to be elected, I thought this would be a good time to take a quick look at their backgrounds and some of their ideas for how they would lead the Democratic party into battle against a rogue, reactionary Republican party and the Trump administration.
