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On February 14, former Secretary of Labor TomPerez arrogantly toldPoliticothat his campaign is within reach of obtaining enough DNC delegate support to win the DNC chair election. Perez claims to have 180 DNC delegate supporters, which is close to the 224 delegates necessary to win. The Associated Press, who notoriously called the Democratic primaries in favor of HillaryClinton on a day when no one voted, announcedthat Perez leads Rep. Keith Ellison by 66 delegates.

The DNC chair race is the Democratic Partys last opportunity to make a unifying concession to progressives, who were cheated and disenfranchised during the Democratic primaries by former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Wasserman Schultzresigned in embarrassment after Wikileaks releasedemails confirming she violated Section 5 Article 4 of the DNC Charter to helpClinton. However,the Democratic Party has yet to acknowledge the damage they caused by anointing Clinton as their presidential nominee.

Perezs main opponent in the DNC chair race, Rep.Keith Ellison, supported Sen.Bernie Sandersin the primaries, and he has received endorsements from Sanders, Our Revolution and several other progressive organizations. Though many have concerns about him pandering to the establishment during his DNCchair campaign, electing Ellisonwouldat the very leastbe a gesture of good faith to progressives.

Perez backs the same failed strategies that have run theDemocraticPartyinto the ground over the last decade. An emailreleased by Wikileaks from Clintoncampaign chair John Podesta revealed that Perez advised the Clinton campaign to whitewash Sanderscampaign during the Democratic primaries in order to repel minority supporters. Perez recommendedNevada as the best opportunity to do so. Despite the fact that Clinton ultimately won Nevada,pollsnoted that moreLatinos voted for Sanders. At Perez recommendation, the mainstream media and Clintoncampaign propagated the false narrative that Sanders supporters were sexist white males, though they had little to no evidence to substantiate these claims.

During Perezs tenure as secretary of labor, he stabbed labor unions in the back bysupporting the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), despite virtually every large labor union strongly opposing it. Perez also granted special waivers to Credit Suisse by removing sanctions that were imposed on investment bankers for helping wealthy Americans evade taxes. Furthermore, hegave Renaissance Technologies, which is run by Bob Mercerone of Trumps biggest donorsand James Simons, one ofClintons biggest donors, a huge tax break.

The Democraticestablishment has rallied behind Perezs candidacy. Former Vice President Joe Biden, former Attorney General Eric Holder and several other establishment figures have formally endorsed Perez, while several others have attacked Sanders for endorsingEllison. It is very concerning that Bernie Sanders is so intent on taking over a party that hes not even a member of that hed insult the beloved vice presidentand really the presidentabout a failed status quo approach, said Texas Democratic chairman Gilberto Hinojosa in an interview. This resentment toward Sanders and his progressive supporters has lingered within the Democratic Party and its leadership since the Democratic primaries. Clintons election loss, which was a huge failure for the Democratic Party, highlighted the need for Democrats to enact meaningful reforms. Nevertheless, the party hasresisted change.

The Democratic Partys failure to reform has incited organizations on the left to emergeincluding theDraft Bernie movement and Justice Democratsin hopes of starting a new party to replace inept, office-holdingDemocratswith progressives. If the Democratic Party elects another establishment puppet to run the DNC, the number of people who are protesting the weak opposition that Democrats have exhibited toward Trump will exponentially increase. Even if Ellison wins, calls for party unity wont come easy. If the Democratic Party continues to shun progressives, these mounting slights may serve as a catalyst to the political revolution that Sanders supporters have been advocating for since the Democratic primaries.

Excerpt from:
There's No Saving the Democratic Party if Tom Perez Wins DNC Chair - Observer