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What Can Be Done About the Left’s Diminished DNC Presence?
The recent race for DNC chair raises questions about how the progressive wing of the party can and should move forward toward 2028.
Feb 09, 2025
Just before starting to write my lament about what a dramatic step backward the recent campaign for Democratic National Committee chair had been, I opened an Our Revolution email that told me, “We beat back the party establishment at the DNC.”
Now Our Revolution being a direct organizational descendent of the 2020 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, and me having been a 2016 Sanders convention delegate, I feel pretty confident that our ideas of who “we” means are pretty much the same. So what accounts for the widely divergent takes?
For those who haven’t been following this, Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chair Ken Martin was just elected to lead the DNC for the next four years, defeating Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler by a 246.5–134.5 vote margin. There was no contested election four years ago, because by tradition a just-elected president selects the new chair; contested elections generally follow defeats. In the last one, in 2017, former Obama administration Secretary of Labor Tom Perez won the job, beating Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison in a second round of voting, 235--200.
At the moment there is no one obviously positioned to take up the Sanders’ mantle in the 2028 presidential campaign.
Ellison’s candidacy came in the wake of his having been just the second member of Congress to support Sanders in the prior year’s presidential primaries, and the fact that Sanders people harbored serious grievances with the DNC over its perceived favoritism for the ultimate nominee, Hillary Clinton, lent a distinct edge to the election, bringing it considerably more buzz than the one that just occurred. At the time, former Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, a vociferous opponent of Sanders’ run—who had once declared, “The most effective thing liberals and progressives can do to advance our public policy goals... is to help Clinton win our nomination early in the year”—now thought there was “a great deal to be said for putting an active Sanders supporter in there,” so as to clear the air “of suspicions and paranoia.” But Clinton and Barack Obama apparently didn’t think so, and Clinton’s past Obama cabinet colleague, Perez, took up the torch in a race that produced a level of grassroots involvement seldom if ever before seen in this contest.
Although the office is traditionally considered organizational rather than ideological and the 2017 candidates did run on those issues, the underlying political differences were obvious to all. This time around, the race was generally understood to involve little if any political disagreement on the issues. By way of explaining its support for new party chair Martin, Our Revolution characterized runner-up Wikler, as “an establishment candidate backed by Nancy Pelosi, Hakeem Jeffries, and Chuck Schumer, and bankrolled by the billionaire class.” We understand that election campaigns are about sharpening the perception of differences between the candidates, but still this seems a rather thin, flimsy basis for hailing the vote as an anti-establishment triumph, given that Martin has publicly stated that he doesn’t want the party to take money from "those bad billionaires" only from "good billionaires;”and one of the two billionaires who gave a quarter million dollars to Wikler’s campaign was George Soros—probably the DNC’s model “good billionaire.” Besides Musk/Bezos/Zuckerberg probably aren’t thinking of donating anyhow. Oh, and Chuck Schumer actually supported Ellison eight years ago.
Actually, “we” did have a horse in the race—2020 Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir. Shakir, who has been running a nonprofit news organization called More Perfect Union, dedicated to “building power for the working class,” argued that Democrats needed a pitch for building a pro-worker economy to go with their criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump’s policy proposals. His viewpoint presented a serious alternative to that of Martin, who told a candidates forum that “we’ve got the right message... What we need to do is connect it back with the voters,”—seemingly a tough position to maintain following an election in which NBC’s 20-state exit polling showed the majority of voters with annual household incomes under $100,000 voting Republican, while the majority of those from over-$100,000 households voted Democrat. But even though Shakir was a DNC member and thereby able to get the 40 signatures of committee members needed to run, he entered the race far too late to be taken for a serious contender and ultimately received but two votes.
Mind you, none of this critique comes as a criticism of the work of the two state party chairs who were the principal contenders. Martin touts the fact that Democrats have won every statewide election in Minnesota in the 14 years that he has chaired the party, and anyone who understands the effort that goes into political campaign work can only admire that achievement. Nor is Our Revolution to be criticized for taking the time to discern what they thought would be the best possible option in a not terribly exciting race that was nevertheless of some importance.
At the same time it’s hard not to regret the diminished DNC presence of the “we” that Our Revolution spoke of, after “we” legitimately contended for power in the last contested election. Certainly this lack of interest was in no small part a consequence of the extraordinary circumstances that produced a presidential nominee who had not gone before the voters in a single primary—for the first time since Hubert Humphrey in 1968.
More importantly, it raises a serious question for those of us who believe that the structure and history of the American political system require the left’s engagement in the Democratic Party—uncomfortable and unpleasant as that may be at times. As the social scientists like to say, politics abhors a vacuum, and absent a national Democratic Party presence for the perspective that motivated the Sanders campaigns, people seeking action on the big questions on the big stage may start to look elsewhere. And elsewhere always looms the possibility of the cul-de-sac of yet of another third party candidacy that holds interesting conventions and debates, but ultimately receives only a small share of the vote, but a large share of the blame for the election of a Republican president.
At the moment there is no one obviously positioned to take up the Sanders’ mantle in the 2028 presidential campaign. But we may have to make it our business to find one.
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James Zogby Launches Bid for DNC Leadership With Pledge to Take on 'Dark Money'
"Democratic voters should decide who wins our primaries, not outside groups," said the longtime Democratic National Committee member and outspoken progressive.
Dec 19, 2024
Longtime Democratic National Committee member James Zogby formally launched his candidacy for DNC vice chair on Thursday, citing the urgent need for internal party reform in the wake of the disastrous 2024 election.
Zogby, the founder of the Arab American Institute and a vocal supporter of Palestinian rights and other progressive causes, has served on the DNC for more than three decades, and he's used his positions on the body's Executive Committee, Resolutions Committee, Unity Reform Commission, and other panels to push for changes such as a ban on dark money in the Democratic primary process—a proposal that the DNC has twice refused to even consider.
Eliminating dark money from Democratic primaries is one of five points on Zogby's platform, which also includes changes to ensure "accountability and transparency" with the DNC's finances, building the "organizing capacity" at the state and local levels, and "increasing Democratic Party membership."
"The DNC is supposed to serve as the governing body of the party, but we've been reduced to props who fill chairs at meetings and listen to speeches," Zogby told Common Dreams on Thursday. "Our input isn't sought, nor do we fulfill our responsibility to review and evaluate the budget. Control has been surrendered to consultant groups and the White House."
On his website, Zogby writes that the massive influx of dark money into Democratic primaries is "something that we and our state parties can regulate or call out."
"Democratic voters should decide who wins our primaries, not outside groups," he added.
Zogby announced his intention to run for DNC vice chair in a column for The Nation earlier this month, but his candidacy wasn't official until he secured the required number of endorsements on his nominating petitions—a goal he achieved last week.
In a statement on Thursday, Zogby said his candidacy for a vice chair position has been endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), and Rev. Jesse Jackson, among others.
"In the aftermath of our 2024 electoral defeat, many in our party have been engaged in hand-wringing and soul-searching in an effort to understand what went wrong—and what we must do differently moving forward," Zogby wrote in his Nation column. "Like any good Democrat, I have my views on all of these matters, but that's not why I'm running for one of the vice-chair positions of the Democratic National Committee."
"The issues I intend to raise," he continued, "are those related to governance and party building: the need for budget transparency and accountability; the need to address the financial drain and loss of decision-making control created by our dependence on outside consultants; the need to build state parties; the need to take 'dark money' out of our primaries; and the need to create a sense of belonging and engagement that brings young people and others who feel rejected and disenfranchised into our party, finding a place for them in our work."
Politicoreported last month that the DNC is "expected to elect a new slate of officers, including chair and a handful of vice chairs, early next year as it charts a path forward after losing" to President-elect Donald Trump in last month's election.
David Hogg, a survivor of the 2018 Parkland high school shooting, announced earlier this week that he's running for a vice chair post.
As for DNC chair, several candidates have officially announced they're vying for the position, including Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley.
Rahm Emanuel, the disgraced former mayor of Chicago, is also reportedly considering a run, drawing ire from progressives.
"Rahm is a symbol of everything that's wrong with the Party: coziness with corporate America, a brand of politics completely disconnected from working people, and an old way of thinking about elections that has failed Democrats time and again," the progressive advocacy group Our Revolution wrote in an email on Thursday.
"We're in a fight for the very future of this country," the group added. "Trump is heading into a second term after beating the Democratic Party elites AGAIN. Yet, corporate Democrats are still fighting progressives harder than they fight MAGA extremism. But there’s hope if we elect a DNC Chair that takes the Party in a new direction. Rahm is NOT the leadership we need right now!"
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Harris Must Commit to Ending Support for Israel's Genocide in Gaza
"Our common humanity compels us to act," the vice president and now presumptive Democratic nominee said earlier this year. Now she must.
Aug 02, 2024
During Donald Trump’s presidency, he repeatedly capitulated to Israel’s Zionist regime. He illegally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, illegally recognized Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, and declared Israeli settlements on Palestinian land lawful despite international law to the contrary.
As Israel continues its 10-month genocidal campaign in Gaza, there is no doubt that if he were president now, Trump would give Israel everything it wants to “finish what they started” and “get it over with fast,” that is, ethnically cleanse all of the Palestinians from Gaza.
But this genocide is happening on Joe Biden’s watch. His administration has aided and abetted Israeli genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, killing more than 40,000 Palestinians according to the official Gaza Health Ministry count, although the real death toll is likely much higher. Besides the $3.8 billion the U.S. sends annually to Israel, it has furnished an additional $15 billion in military aid since October 7, 2023. And the U.S. has provided political and diplomatic cover to Israel by vetoing three Security Council resolutions that would have required a ceasefire in Gaza.
A second Trump administration would not just double down on enabling Israel’s genocide in Gaza. It would also usher in a system of fascism grounded in Christian nationalism.
During the primary elections, nearly 1 million voters—many of them Arab American and younger progressive voters—cast their primary ballots for “uncommitted” to protest Biden’s complicity in Israel’s genocide.
In order to capture those votes, Kamala Harris should commit to ending U.S. support for Israel’s genocide and its illegal occupation of Palestinian territory.
Harris’s Record on Israel-Palestine
Harris has a history of strong support for Israel. As a senator, she twice addressed the pro-Zionist AIPAC conference, co-sponsored a bill to undermine a UN resolution that condemned Israel’s illegal annexation of Palestinian territory, and denounced the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement. During the 2020 presidential race, when asked by The New York Times if she believed that Israel complied with international human rights standards, she said, “Overall, yes.”
An integral part of the Biden administration, Harris has participated in 20 calls between Biden and Netanyahu since the October 7 attacks in Israel. But in the past 10 months, she has made public statements that went much further than Biden in expressing concern about the humanitarian devastation in Gaza.
While stating that Israel had a right to self-defense, Harris maintained that it must comply with international humanitarian law by protecting civilians and allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza. On October 29, she said on CBS’s 60 Minutes that “it is very important that there be no conflation between Hamas and the Palestinians. The Palestinians deserve equal measures of safety and security, self-determination and dignity, and we have been very clear that the rules of war must be adhered to and that there be humanitarian aid that flows.”
After meeting with leaders of Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates in November 2023, Harris decried the horrors of October 7 and called for the return of the Israeli hostages. But, she added, “As Israel defends itself, it matters how. Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. Frankly, the scale of civilian suffering and the images and videos coming from Gaza are devastating.”
In late 2023, Harris reportedly urged Biden to get “tougher” on Netanyahu and express more public concern about the deaths of Palestinian civilians.
On March 3, in a speech commemorating the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, Harris pressed for an immediate six-week ceasefire, stating, “What we are seeing every day in Gaza is devastating. We have seen reports of families eating leaves or animal feed, women giving birth to malnourished babies with little or no medical care, and children dying from malnutrition and dehydration.”
Harris also declared, “As I have said many times, too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. And just a few days ago, we saw hungry, desperate people approach aid trucks, simply trying to secure food for their families after weeks of nearly no aid reaching Northern Gaza. And they were met with gunfire and chaos,” adding, “Our hearts break for the victims of that horrific tragedy and for all the innocent people in Gaza who are suffering from what is clearly a humanitarian catastrophe. People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane. And our common humanity compels us to act.”
Harris is Constrained by Administration in Her Criticism of Israel: “Her hands are tied”
NBC Newsreported that officials at the National Security Council watered down Harris’s March 3 speech before she delivered it. The original draft came down harder on Israel over the desperate humanitarian situation in Gaza and the need for Israel to allow more aid.
Harris has apparently wanted to take a stronger stand against Israel’s assault on Gaza. A Democrat who helped elect Biden in 2020 told NBC News that Harris went to great lengths to be more responsive to the concerns of Muslim and Arab Americans and other Democrats who are disturbed by the worsening humanitarian situation after months of Israeli bombing. “Her hands are tied,” the person said. “People are not attacking her because they know that this is not her policy. This is Biden’s war. This is Biden’s failure,” adding, “I think she would have asked for a cease-fire a long time ago.”
Last week the Washington Postcited multiple current and former White House officialswho anonymously reported that Harris has advocated for the rights of the Palestinians in several internal meetings and in public remarks when she thought they were not being adequately considered in crafting policy. She faced a backlash in June after she publicly mourned the over 270 Palestinians who were “tragically killed” by an Israeli military operation that rescued four hostages held by Hamas since October 7.
To her credit, Harris refused to preside over the joint session of Congress on July 26 where Netanyahu gave what shamefully sounded like a State of the Union address.
She met with Netanyahu later and then called for a long-term cease-fire. "It's time for this war to end and end in a way where Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity and self-determination." She reported that the meeting had been "frank and constructive."
Harris also stated, “Israel has a right to defend itself, and how it does so matters.” She had “serious concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians,” and “images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety.” She declared, “We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering, and I will not be silent.”
Make Harris Commit to Ending Support for Israel’s Genocide and Illegal Occupation
After leaving Washington D.C., Netanyahu met with Trump in Florida. Trump declared that Harris’s "remarks on Israel were disrespectful."
A second Trump administration would not just double down on enabling Israel’s genocide in Gaza. It would also usher in a system of fascism grounded in Christian nationalism.
The American Muslim 2024 Election Taskforce said in a statement: “By fully charting a new course on Gaza policy,” Harris can “win back the support of American Muslims and other voters in key swing states and, ultimately, save the country from another Trump presidency.”
We must push Harris to commit to a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of U.S. support for Israel’s genocide and its illegal occupation of Palestinian territory.
The Uncommitted National Movement says it will support any candidate who backs a permanent ceasefire and an arms embargo. It issued this statement:
Supplying weapons to Netanyahu’s regime makes a mockery of Democrats’ claims to fight against MAGA authoritarianism. By funding a government committing human rights abuses, we undermine our party’s stance against far-right extremism and contradict our commitment to democracy. It’s time to align our actions with our values. Vice President Harris can start the process to earn back trust by turning the page from Biden’s horrific policies in Gaza.
Veterans for Peace (VFP) wrote an open letter to Harris saying that it “wholeheartedly concurs” with her sentiments following her meeting with Netanyahu. “We applaud you for expressing sympathy with the Palestinian people,” the letter says. “We also refuse to become numb to their suffering, and we cannot be silent. Like so many of our fellow citizens, including Jewish Americans, we are deeply disturbed that our government continues to provide Israel with a steady supply of bombs, and to provide political cover for Israeli leaders charged with war crimes.”
VFP states that “justice and humanity require” there be “an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, the opening of Gaza’s borders for massive humanitarian and medical aid, and the end of US arms shipments to Israel.” VFP exhorts Harris not to wait until January to urge Biden to change course in Gaza.
We must push Harris to commit to a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of U.S. support for Israel’s genocide and its illegal occupation of Palestinian territory.
The choice is clear. It is critical that Trump be defeated in November. Either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris will be elected president. A vote for anyone other than Harris will help Trump take the White House - and our constitutional government with it.
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