DNC Unveils Unity Reform Commission
By Thom Hartmann A...
Almost a year later, the wounds of the Democratic 2016 primary are still very, very raw.
But 21 people now have a chance to change that - and make the Democratic Party more accountable in the process.
Yesterday, DNC Chair Tom Perez revealed the final list of members appointed to serve on the Democratic Unity Reform Commission.
9 of of the Commission's members were chosen by the Clinton campaign, 7 were chosen by Bernie Sanders, and 3 by Tom Perez.
They will have until January 2018 to come up with a joint plan to reform the Democratic Party.
So - will they succeed?
Comments
#2
Disapointing stable of the same suits that created the mess to start with. The best that will happen out of this group, is a compromise, and that will look a lot like the establishment SUIT ruled party that decided to promote a concept or desire or friend, rather than the best candidate.
#3
I would love to see tough reform. Change the DNC to the Progressive National Comitee (PNC) and boot the neo-libs until they come to their senses.
#4
Hmmm...not knowing what leaning the 3 chosen by Perez will be, I'd hazard a guess it's the 'same ol same ol'. 9 Corporate Dems picked by the Clinton side...sad to say that they don't realize it's the Clinton Camp that lost the Dems the last election.
I'm with Arrgy, go PNC.
#5
I'm disappointed in the makeup of this commission. I think we will see continued general failure of the Democratic Party as long as the Clintons and the DLC call the shots. These are the people who nominated a person who was flawed as a candidate, one with with very high negatives, certainly not entirely her own fault, in several key states. This should have been well- known to Democratic leaders. While she would have been a much better president than Trump, she was a worse candidate, failing to communicate a clear, positive message.
Dems have also failed nationally on the state level. Howard Dean was a much better head of the Dem Party than Debbie W Schultz, on who some of the blame can be placed. I hope that the Republican performance in states like Kansas will open people's eyes to what they will get under the rule of the Oligarch party, but if the Democrats can possibly mess up their chances, they probably will. I deeply hope I am completely mistaken.
#6
Revolution is the answer!
Talk and excuse and rationalise and shilly shally and dilly dally and write and blog and opinionate and wonder and mindlessly wonder
Feel better
Dull apathy
#7
"So - will they succeed?"...
Well, if it looks different than the disorganized mess we have now then we will have succeeded in at least that much. Might even convince some voters to come back.
#8
I still don't see any fight in the Democratic Party. We've just experienced one hundred days of lying, manipulating, law breaking, ruthless government and I'm barely hearing a peep out of our Democratic leadership. This is why we lost an election that not even the Republicans thought they could win. We need leaders that keep their hands out of corporate pockets and are willing to go the distance to right the wrongs and hold corrupt, racist, and sexist politicians accountable.
#9
I question giving Bernie a voice in a political party that he does not belong to, and to which he gave the big middle finger during the latter stages of the 2016 Democratic Primary.
#10
"If you want to kill any idea in the world, get a committee working on it." -- Charles Kettering
It's been 9 months since the Democratic National Convention ...and they still need 9 more months to figure out what went wrong?! By then, they'll only have 9 months until the midterms.
"Revolution 9" -- John Lennon
With 9 commissioners, Clinton dems hold sway over the Bernie dems. The party has 18 short months to reverse that dynamic and change perceptions.
#11
The real purpose of the Democratic Party is ensure that progressive agenda is not allowed anywhere near the platform. In this purpose they will succeed.
#12
How about some of us voters, you know - those of us who WANT to vote for our party?!
It seems like currently, few us us care what the party bosses think, but instead want to reform our party from the ground - up!
#13
How are they going to reform the party if nine of the members were chosen by Clinton? Therein lies the problem. They're the ones who NEED to be BOOTED OUT.
#14
Interesting to note; In a town of 30,000 people, less than 15 will show up for the monthly movie of relevance night...e.g. Water Wars, Health Care.
Put on, at no charge other than your time, by what's called the 'Peace and Justice' group, with adequate media notice, I fear the numbers of attendees speak louder than words.
If a town of 30,000 can only generate 15 people interested in long term health of the people and the environment, I'll extrapolate and say...not much chance of any change in the political structure in the near future.
Considering that I'm basically a 'bottom up' guy, this is depressing.
#15
Do I think that the DNC will arrive at any form of useful reform? Short answer: No. Why? Because the Democratic Party is/was supposed to be on the side of the best interests of working men and women (to include unions). What part of "Corporate Democrat" says best interests of working men and women? Oh, they may agree on some window dressing reforms, but substantively, as long as Perez and any holdovers from the Wasserman-Schultz era are still in the mix, they are going to be pulling for their donors. The ONLY fundamental change that would really matter is that all ties to corporate anything be cut off forever, and that there would be a full return committment to the tenets of FDR, Single Payer, a toppling of the military-industrial complex and a vacating of war as a means to make the 1% rich. Now, you and I both know this ain't gonna happen. They will get together and rangle around and come up with some impotent bastardization of what should be a full bore reform. Let's just say we've seen this roadshow before and hold out no hope that the right-leaning players will change their allegiances and alliances; some people are just too addicted to money. And let's face the fact that if the DNC thought they could get back into power without making any concessions, they wouldn't even give this commission a second thought; which means their will and their committment to change just really aren't there from the start. But, hey, good luck to Bernie and all those on his team. Any inroads is better than none at all. But I'm willing to bet that if the whole country doesn't wake up, and rise up to demand change, that DJT will get a second term in office and the conservative parade will march on. PS I'm with lloydvon and tomcalwriter.
#16
Will the DNC succeed? Of course not!! Why? Because they -don't- =want= -to-, since they don't -really- want to change a damn thing! Let's be honest for a moment, shall we? The =ONLY= thing the DNC wants is the survival and continuation of the DNC, period, full-stop. "We, the People"?? Who the hell do we think -we- are, anyway?! They don't give a tinker's damn about "We, the People" any more than the RNC does. Sheeesh.
#17
Bravo, Unc! You hit it squarely on the head!
#18
With Perez' 3 that makes 12 for the establishment, and 7 for the progressives. They never learn!
#19
The Democratic Party is only nominally progressive. As long as the party and candidates raise funds from corporate lobbyists, principles will always be sacrificed. For Democrats to distinguish themselves from Republicans, they need to become dedicated champions of real systemic reforms. Proportional representation is one of the reforms that is required to bring a significant degree of demcracy to the United States. The corruption of gerrymandering could be eliminated by the fundamental reform of voting for a party rather than for individual candidates. If the Democratic party wins 50 percent of the statewide vote, then the Democratic party would by an internal election choose the individuals to send to the House of Representatives equal to one-half of the allocated seats.
#20
The biggest problem facing the Democratic Party is that they get almost zero corpse media press coverage, and if that isn't enough, they're also up against foxaganda and all other manner of fascist controlled brainwashing of lazy minds.
My advice....when any Democrat gets their ten seconds on Meet the Republicans, or any other Sunday show, ignore the question, and just start talking about how your party wants single payer, wants to strengthen social security, and raise taxes on the rich. Talk about the Teapublican's cross check election fraud. Mention that climate change is real science. Mention how just the Kochs and Murdochs alone have ffddd this country up so bad, we're on the verge of economic collapse. Mention how the child rapist in the White House is likely to get us all killed. A 13 year old is a child!
Putin played a far larger role in this illegitimate election than anyone but the CIA knows. He has destabilized the entire planet...good luck to all when the panic sets in. The orange haired guy is going to make a very bad decision.
#21
The biggest problem facing the Democrat Party is the Democrat Party. Until you washed up lefties quit being victims, and take responsibility for your destiny, you will NEVER succeed.
#22
When election fraud happens in a democracy, everyone is a victim. If you support election fraud, I highly recommend you move to Russia! Responsible citizens resist Fascism and fraud.
#23
2950-10K
QED
#24
Bachmann: What happened to your Benghazi and Hillary email sandbox....get tired of playing in it? You righties are so pathetic! Do you really think the billionaires still need your help???? You won't answer that will you?
#25
-10K
Try to stay on Topic....you keep proving my point "The problem with the Democrat Party is the Democrat Party".
#26
Bachmann: Give progressive voices like Bernie Sanders equal time to the righties on Fox News, and you'll quickly find your Teapublican Party is the one with all the problems...LOL
What are you righties so damn afraid of...the economic and social truth reaching the masses????? The truth of for profit health insurance vs single- payer is a classic example of the alt reality you righties live in. The billionaires thank you for that sacrifice, and or are laughing all the way to the bank.
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It doesn't take any reform to do what the majority of democrats wants to the DNC to do. If they had nominated Bernie we wouldn't have Trump as president or whatever he is.