Our Party? Their Party?

Saturday we took a brief look at a very important report written by Sean McElwee for the Justice Democrats, . The report lays out a progressive vision for a populist Democratic Party. I'm guessing that the bunch who would most benefit from reading it following its precepts closely-- those who work at the DNC (and the DCCC and DSCC)-- never even glanced at it. As Glenn Greenwald tweeted a few days ago, The DNC under Tom Perez continues showing contempt for the people it needs to vote for it: still not even pretending to be neutral in primaries, always endorsing corruption-tainted establishment hacks, insulting the left at every turn."

Greenwald was talking about the gubernatorial primary battle in New York state, where DNC chairman Tom Perez endorsed a champion of corruption in politics, Andrew Cuomo. If you're a Democrat, don't kid yourself-- the one way there really is no difference between the two parties is that each their establishments really are all about one thing and one thing only: corruption. The Democrats may be pro-Choice, pro-immigrant, pro-LGBTQ and anti-guns, etc but the Sine qua non for the party establishment, no less than for the Republican Party establishment is corruption. This describes them and I can;'t believe I buried it late on a Saturday night of a holiday weekend. If you missed it, please go back, listen to the music, watch the clips, think about the underlying message... and skip the whole part of about the fancy private terminals for wealthy airplane passengers.

Keith Ellison is the vice-chair of the DNC. He expects Perez to stick to his promise of neutrality in party primaries, not behave like some kind male Debbie Wasserman Schultz. "The Democratic Party should not intervene in the primary process," he said. "It is our role to be fair to all contestants and let the voters decide." Perez had already addressed the the NY Democratic Party convention and declared he was "proud to endorse" Cuomo, the embodiment of government corruption and Kathy Hochul, one of the party's most right-wing officials, Cuomo's choice for lieutenant governor.

"You've been delivering results and you've been delivering results that have made people's lives better. That's why Andrew Cuomo and Kathy Hochul are charter members of the accomplishments wing of the Democratic Party, and that's why I'm proud to endorse them," Perez said.

Cuomo is seeking for a third term and facing a spirited primary challenge from actress Cynthia Nixon, who is running to his left.

Party chairmen typically play the neutral arbiter role in primaries, and Perez himself has repeatedly stressed the importance of staying out of Democratic contests. He took over the party last year pledging to restore trust after controversy about DNC involvement in the 2016 presidential nominating contest.

...Perez' forceful endorsement is unusual, even though incumbents often get the automatic endorsements of other party groups, like the campaign arms of Democratic governors or House members.

On Friday, for instance, Perez told NBC News that the DNC had been "scrupulously neutral" in this weeks' Georgia's Democratic gubernatorial primary "because we think the voters should decide that."

His involvement in the New York race drew criticism from the left.

"The entire reason we hold primaries is because voters should decide who's on the ballot, and not party bosses," said Karthik Ganapathy, a spokesperson for MoveOn. "It's wrong for those in charge of official party infrastructure to put their thumb on the scales and try to influence the outcome of elections before the primary voters who form the party's grassroots base have had a chance to cast their ballots."

Perez was one just one of several bold-name Democrats who threw their support behind Cuomo at the convention, including former presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and former Vice President Joe Biden.

If Cuomo decides to run for president in 2020, the issue may come up again, since the DNC is responsible for [refereeing] the primary.

Even Indivisible, a group founded on the national level-- very different from the grassroots local Indivisble groups-- by Hillary Clinton campaign supporters, seemed put off. Ezra Levin, a co-founder (along with his wife, Leah Greenberg), tweeted "Don't be scared of democracy-- let the voters decide." Cuomo has been endorsed by Hillary too, of course.

[Note the caveat, "in a safe Democratic state," which gives the party establishment leeway to endorse its crappy conservative candidates in non-safe swing district seats, like the DCCC did in districts like NE-02, only see its Blue Dog shithead rejected by primary voters who preferred progressive Kara Eastman instead, just as they had preferred Bernie over Hillary in 2016.]

Cuomo has been rejected by the progressive wing of the party, which is rallying behind Cynthia Nixon. Nixon has been endorsed by DFA, Our Revolution, PCCC and the Working Families Party, whose state director reminded Democrats that "Cuomo represents a wing of the Democratic Party that is out of touch with what voters want right now and that people are veering away from."

Two key points that McElwee made in his report:

1- Democrats can win elections without rejecting their base.

• The general public supports key, over-the-horizon Democratic priorities, from marijuana legalization and ending mandatory minimums to a $15 minimum wage and single-payer health care.
• Medicare for All and a $15 minimum wage are popular in purple states across the country.

2- Democrats are not representing the progressivism of their constituents.

• Many Democrats reject policies supported by the general public in their states and districts.
• Ninety-two percent of Democrats in the House represent districts where modeled support for repealing the Hyde Amendment is greater than 55 percent, but only 70 percent of House Democrats support repealing the Hyde Amendment.
• Sixty-seven percent of Democrats in the Senate represent states where modeled support for Medicare for All is greater than 55 percent, but only 33 percent of Senate Democrats support Medicare for All.